President Vladimir Putin on Sunday ordered Russia’s nuclear deterrent forces to be on high alert, ratcheting up tensions to a new high as Ukraine agreed to talks with Russian officials in neighboring Belarus after initially rejecting the idea.
In a statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and agreed to meet with the Russians “without preconditions.” Zelenskyy earlier said that his government would not attend negotiations in Belarus, a close ally of Moscow’s where thousands of Russian troops massed in the lead-up to the invasion last week.
