<span style="color: #222222;">Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to put its nuclear forces on special alert – the highest level of alert for Strategic Missile Forces.<br />''<br />''Speaking to top military officials, including Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, he said, Western nations had taken unfriendly actions towards Russia and imposed illegitimate sanctions.<br />''<br />''Mr Putin had already issued a coded warning that he was willing to use nuclear weapons as he began his invasion of Ukraine.<br />''Reacting over Russia's move, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has called the move unacceptable.<br />''<br />''In an interview with CBS News she said , Russia's declaration means that President Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable and they would continue to stem his actions in the strongest possible way.<br />''<br />''Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has released a statement following his conversation with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko today. President Zelenskyy said Kyiv will send a delegation for talks without preconditions with Moscow at the Ukraine-Belarus border, near the Pripyat River. Mr Zelensky had earlier said he would not meet a Russian delegation on Belarusian territory because Russia's invasion was launched in part from Belarus.</span><br />