President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces to be placed on high alert Sunday in response to what he called “aggressive comments” by leading NATO powers, escalating East-West tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Putin’s decision implies Russia’s nuclear weapons will be prepped for increased readiness to fire, raising the risk that Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the West’s response may escalate into nuclear confrontation.
As Moscow’s soldiers got closer to Kyiv, the office of Ukraine’s president announced that a delegation would meet with Russian authorities.
Putin highlighted not just claimed remarks by NATO members, but also the harsh financial sanctions imposed by the West against Russia, including the Russian president himself, in issuing the nuclear alert directive.
Putin urged his defense minister and the commander of the military’s General Staff to place the nuclear deterrent forces on a “special regime of combat duty” at a meeting with his senior officials.
“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.
