Ukraine official: Putin taking Belarus as 'nuclear hostage'

Ukraine’s top security official has denounced the Kremlin’s plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus. Russia said that it made the move in response to the West’s increasing military support for Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the plan in a television interview that aired on Saturday. He said that it was triggered by Britain’s decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium. Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council secretary Oleksiy Danilov tweeted Sunday that Putin’s announcement was “a step towards internal destabilization” of Belarus. Danilov said that the Kremlin “took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.”