Russia's Putin puts nuclear forces on high alert

[MOSCOW] Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military command to put Russia's deterrence forces - a reference to units which include nuclear arms - on high alert, citing aggressive statements by Nato leaders and economic sanctions against Moscow.

"As you can see, not only do Western countries take unfriendly measures against our country in the economic dimension - I mean the illegal sanctions that everyone knows about very well - but also the top officials of leading Nato countries allow themselves to make aggressive statements with regards to our country," Putin said on state television.

Putin's order to put Russia's deterrence forces on high alert is unacceptable escalation, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Sunday (Feb 27).

"It means that President Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable, and we have to continue to stem his actions in the strongest possible way," Thomas-Greenfield said in interview with Face the Nation on CBS.

Putin's order to put Russian nuclear forces on high alert is part of a pattern of Moscow manufacturing threats to justify aggression, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Sunday. "We've seen him do this time and time again. At no point has Russia been under threat from NATO, has Russia been under threat from Ukraine. This is all a pattern from President Putin, and we're going to stand up to it. We have the ability to defend ourselves, but we also need to call out what we're seeing here from President Putin," Psaki said on ABC's This Week programme.

Putin's move is dangerous and irresponsible, and adds to the Russian leader's aggressive pattern involving Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday. "This is dangerous rhetoric. This is a behaviour which is irresponsible. And of course when you combine this rhetoric with what they are doing on the ground in Ukraine - waging war against an independent, sovereign nation, conducting full-fledged invasion of Ukraine - this adds to the seriousness of the situation," Stoltenberg said on CNN's State of the Union programme. REUTERS