Putin orders Russian nuclear deterrent forces on alert

BREAKING - Putin orders Russian nuclear deterrent forces on alert, raising the threat that tensions with the West over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to the use of nuclear weapons.

Speaking at a meeting with his top officials, Putin ordered the Russian defense minister and the chief of the military’s General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a “special regime of combat duty.”

“Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country,” Putin said in televised comments.

Also a Ukrainian delegation agrees to meet with Russians at Belarus border, according to President Zelensky’s office