Vladimir Putin puts Russia's nuclear forces on alert, as Ukraine agrees to talks with Russia
ABCPresident Vladimir Putin has put Russia's nuclear forces on high alert in the face of a barrage of Western reprisals for his war on Ukraine, which said it had repelled Russian ground forces attacking its biggest cities. Key points: Vladimir Putin put Russia's nuclear forces in a "special regime of combat duty" The office of Ukraine's president said a delegation would meet with Russian officials at an unspecified location on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border The US accused Putin of resorting to a pattern of manufacturing threats that don't exist in order to justify further aggression The United States said Mr Putin was escalating the war in a "totally unacceptable" way, amid signs that the biggest assault on a European state since World War II was not producing rapid battlefield victories, but instead generating a far-reaching and concerted Western response. "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," Mr Putin said in televised comments. Ukrainian media said Ukraine was sending Foreign Minister Mr Kuleba's deputy to the meeting The announcement came hours after Russia announced that its delegation had flown to Belarus to await talks.