Putin Orders Russian Nuclear Deterrence Forces to Be on High Alert

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President Vladimir Putin put his countryโ€™s nuclear deterrence forces on high alert on Sunday, announcing the move in a televised meeting with top ministers, coming as Russian troops and tanks continue to wage a conflict in Ukraine.

โ€œWestern countries are not only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic area. Iโ€™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,โ€ Putin said on Sunday, according to state-run media.

As a result, Putin said that he has ordered โ€œthe minister of Defense and the chief of the general staff [of the Russian armed forces] to transfer the deterrence forces of the Russian army to a special mode of combat duty,โ€ according to televised comments he made. The deterrence forces include command of Russiaโ€™s vast arsenal of nuclear weapons.

It is not immediately clear what the โ€œspecial mode of combat dutyโ€ means. Previously, when Putin announced the Russian invasion earlier this week, he warned that if other countries get involved, they will face โ€œconsequences they have never seen.โ€

Later on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said via social media that he will send a delegation to the Ukraine-Belarus border to hold talks with Russian officials โ€œwithout preconditionsโ€ about the ongoing conflict. Zelensky said he spoke with Belarusโ€™s leadership and said they would allow the negotiations.

But Putinโ€™s order means Russiaโ€™s nuclear weapons prepared for increased readiness to launch, raising the threat that the tensions between Moscow and NATO could boil over into nuclear strikes.

During a CBS News appearance, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, responded to Putinโ€™s statement on Sunday.

โ€œPresident Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable,โ€ Thomas-Greenfield said on Sunday morning. โ€œAnd we have to continue to condemn his actions in the most strong, strongest possible way.โ€

Also Sunday,ย Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Putin, warned the West against imposing tough sanctions on Russia and Belarus, claiming that the measures could push Russia into a โ€œthird world war.โ€

โ€œNow there is a lot of talk against the banking sector. Gas, oil, SWIFT. Itโ€™s worse than war. This is pushing Russia into a third world war,โ€ Lukashenko told local state media, referring to sanctions.

Byย Jack Phillips

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