Nato and US blast Putin’s nuclear order as Ukraine agrees to talks

Washington  — Nato and the US on Sunday condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order to put his nuclear forces on high alert as dangerous and unacceptable, while the White House called on China to issue a formal condemnation of Russia’s invasion.

In issuing the order to prepare Russia’s nuclear weapons for increased readiness for launch, Putin cited “aggressive statements” from Nato allies and widespread sanctions imposed by Western nations.

After Putin’s  nuclear order, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a post  on Facebook he had agreed to talks with Russia on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.

“We have agreed that the Ukrainian delegation will meet Russian without prior conditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, in the area of the Pripyat River,” Zelenskiy said.

A delegation has already left Kyiv, Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of Zelenskiy’s party, said in televised comments. 

Russian military vehicles pushed into Ukraine’s second-largest city on Sunday and explosions rocked oil and gas installations on a fourth day of fighting in the biggest assault on a European state since World War 2. 

US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told CBS that Putin’s actions have escalated the conflict and were “unacceptable”.

Thomas-Greenfield said the US was “continuing to look at new and even harsher measures against the Russians”.

At the Pentagon, a senior US defence official also described Putin’s nuclear order as an escalation and said it was “putting in play forces that, if there's a miscalculation, could make things much, much more dangerous”.

The US is trying to determine what Putin’s order means “in tangible terms”, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg told CNN Putin's nuclear order was “aggressive” and “irresponsible”.

The Biden administration has worried that its sanctions could raise soaring gas and energy prices in the US and has taken steps to mitigate that. When it issued sanctions targeting major Russian banks on Thursday, it allowed an exception for energy-related transactions.

In the administration’s most urgent public appeal yet to China, White House press secretary Jen Psaki urged the Communist state to issue a formal condemnation of Russia’s invasion.

“This is not a time to stand on the sidelines,” Psaki said on MSNBC. “This is a time to be vocal and condemn the actions of President Putin and Russia invading a sovereign country.”

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said on Friday that China respects countries’ sovereignty, including Ukraine’s, but that Russia’s concerns about Nato’s eastward expansion should be properly addressed.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress continued to take an increasingly sharp tone towards Putin, showing that for now both parties are largely backing the Biden administration’s efforts.

Representative Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, told the Fox News Channel following the Russian president’s nuclear order that “no country in the world should stand with Putin.”

On CNN, senator Mitt Romney, a former Republican presidential nominee, called Putin “a small, evil feral-eyed man who is trying to shape the world in the image where once again Russia would be an empire — and that’s not going to happen.”

US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Sunday announced $54m in new humanitarian aid for Ukrainians affected by the invasion, which was in addition to the $350m sent by the US  last week.

“This includes the provision of food, safe drinking water, shelter, emergency healthcare, winterisation, and protection,” Blinken said in a statement.

Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s majority leader, said the White House’s request for an additional $6.4bn in aid would be taken up by the Senate in the coming days.

World Bank president David Malpass told CBS on Sunday the institution may be able to provide Ukraine with more financial resources within days and that additional aid for the war-torn country will be discussed by G7 finance leaders on Tuesday.

Malpass said he was not yet considering what would happen if the Ukraine’s government falls, but the bank is “doing everything we can to support the people of Ukraine.”

A disbursement for Ukraine within days would represent a rapid acceleration from World Bank financing options that Malpass discussed a week ago with Zelenskiy.  Malpass at that time said the bank was readying a $350m disbursement to Ukraine that the group’s board would consider by the end of March.

Last week, a Ukrainian volunteer group that provides equipment to the country’s army has received over $4m in bitcoin donations, according to blockchain analysis firm Elliptic. London-based Elliptic said earlier in February donations to Ukrainian volunteer and hacking groups had soared as Russian troops massed near the border. 

Reuters