Putin orders nuke forces on high alert, slams West
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed on Sunday to talks with Russia “without preconditions,” even as President Vladimir Putin further escalated tensions by placing his nuclear forces on alert.
“We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River,” Zelensky announced on his official Telegram channel, describing a phone call Sunday with President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus.
Lukashenko “has taken responsibility for ensuring that all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarusian territory remain on the ground during the Ukrainian delegation’s travel, talks and return,” Zelensky continued.
But just before Zelensky’s announcement, Putin issued a new threat to the West, which has increasingly rallied behind Ukraine as its citizens and its military fought back against the Russian invasion.
In brief remarks aired on state television, Putin told his defense minister and his top military commander to place Russia’s nuclear forces on alert, characterizing the move as a response to the West’s “aggressive” actions.
Not only are Western countries implementing “illegitimate sanctions” against Russia, Putin said, “but senior officials of leading NATO countries are allowing themselves to make aggressive statements directed at our country.” Many analysts had expected Mr. Putin to use nuclear threats to push back against the West as tensions rose.
‘Ukraine wasted opportunity for talks’: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday accused Ukrainian authorities of wasting “an opportunity” to hold talks after Moscow’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.
The Kremlin said that Putin had briefed Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett about “the course of a special military operation to protect Donbas”. Bennet for his part proposed that Israel act as a mediator in talks between Russia and Ukraine “in order to halt the hostilities”, the Kremlin said.
Details about the meeting at the border were not yet clear, including who would participate. Zelensky earlier on Sunday had rejected holding talks in Belarus— as Russia has been demanding— because Russia staged part of its invasion from Belarus after amassing troops in the country. But Zelensky’s stance shifted after he spoke by phone with Lukashenko, the Belarusian leader, Putin’s closest international ally.
The Russian delegation, led by a former Russian culture minister, Vladimir Medinsky, is already in Belarus. The diplomatic news came on a day when Russian troops, at least for a time, drew closer to the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.
EU shuts airspace; to fund purchase of weapons for Ukraine
European Union has said that the 27-nation bloc will close its airspace to Russian airlines, fund supplies of weapons to Ukraine and ban some pro-Kremlin media outlets in response to Russia’s invasion.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday, “For the first time ever, the European Union will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment to a country that is under attack.”
Leyen added that, “We are shutting down the EU airspace for Russians. We are proposing a prohibition on all Russian-owned, Russian registered or Russian-controlled aircraft. These aircraft will no more be able to land in, take off or overfly the territory of the EU.”
She also said the EU will ban “the Kremlin’s media machine.
The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, as well as their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war and to sow division in our union.” Von der Leyen added that the EU will also target Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko for supporting Russia’s widespread military campaign in Ukraine.
“We will hit Lukashenko’s regime with a new package of sanctions,” she said.