Russia-Ukraine war: Putin puts Russian nuclear deterrent forces on 'special' alert
Moscow (Russia), February 27: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday placed the country's nuclear deterrent forces on a "special" alert amid the rising tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine crisis.
According to RT News, Putin made the announcement during a meeting with Russia's Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov.
"Western countries are not only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic area. I'm speaking about the illegitimate sanctions that everyone is well aware of. However, the top officials of the leading NATO countries also make aggressive statements against our country as well," Putin said in the meeting.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has agreed to meet with a Russian delegation in Belarus. Russians are heading to the place where the peace talks will be held, said the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky on Sunday.
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The talks would reportedly take place in the Gomel region on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. The Russian delegation is ready for the negotiations, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, and is awaiting the arrival of their Ukrainian counterparts.
"As you know, President (of Belarus Alexander) Lukashenko had a phone call with President (of Ukraine Volodymyr) Zelenskyy. After that, President Lukashenko turned to the Russian side, to President (Vladimir) Putin, asking him not to recall the Russian delegation, as Ukraine signalled its willingness to come to the talks in the Gomel region," Peskov added.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had rejected the Kremlin's offer of talks in Belarus on Sunday, saying the country was a staging ground for the Russian invasion.
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-PTC News
