Russia to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

Wagner claims ‘legal’ control of Ukraine’s Bakhmut

published on 4/3/23 9:20 AM

Бахмут

Photo: AP/BTA

NATO foreign ministers are to hold two-day meeting in Brussels at which the alliance's foreign ministers will reiterate the pact's continued support for Ukraine and transatlantic security, Reuters reports. Shortly before the summit came after the announcement that Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which shares borders with both Latvia — a NATO member — and Ukraine. The announcement was made by Russia's ambassador to Minsk, Boris Gryzlov. The move is likely to further escalate Moscow's confrontation with the West, Reuters comments.

In reaction to that Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs has urged the alliance not to "overreact". "Let's face it, Russian nuclear weapons have already been deployed in Kaliningrad, near our borders, even before Crimea started," Rinkēvičs told CBS News.

In Ukraine Russia’s Wagner Group has claimed “legal” control of eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of paramilitary force, said on Monday that his troops had raised a Russian flag on its administrative building, TASS reported. “From a legal point of view, Bakhmut has been taken. The enemy is concentrated in the western parts,” Prigozhin said. According to him Ukrainian troops are still present in the western districts of Bakhmut.

Fighting around Bakhmut the is "particularly hot", President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, giving no indication the city had finally fallen to Russia.

Translated, edited and posted by Elizabeth Radkova

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