Putin accused of making Belarus ‘nuclear hostage’ over weapons plan

Nato condemns ‘dangerous rhetoric’ over atomic missiles near Ukraine

Ukraine has demanded an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over Vladimir Putin’s plans to place tactical atomic weapons in Belarus, saying Minsk was being used “as a nuclear hostage”.

In one of his most pronounced nuclear threats since the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian president said construction of facilities for the weapons would be completed by 1 July.

He said Russia was following the lead of the United States, which has nuclear weapons based in Europe and Turkey, and Britain, which is providing Ukraine with armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.