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Ukrainian foreign minister: Putin's nuclear readiness move attempts to put pressure on Ukraine

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukrainian Foreign Minister

27 February 2022 19:34 (UTC +04:00)

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Sunday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin's order to put Russian deterrent forces on alert was an effort to raise pressure on the Ukrainian delegation at Monday's scheduled talks, APA reports citing CNN.

"As you notice, this order by President Putin came shortly after the announcement was made about the two delegations ready to meet. And we see this announcement this order, as an attempt to raise stakes and to put additional pressure on the Ukrainian delegation," Kuleba said a briefing in Kyiv.

Kuleba added, "But we will not give into this pressure" and said, "We will approach this talks with a very simple approach."

Kuleba indicated that Ukrainian officials are willing to "listen to what Russia has to say."

"We will tell them what we think of this. And what we are ready to discuss is how to stop the war and the occupation of our territories. Full stop,'" the foreign minister said.

Kuleba said Putin’s decision "to put on high alert his nuclear weapons is a direct threat to us. I have very simple message. It will be a catastrophe for the world, but it will not break us down."