Russia has struck a deal with neighboring Belarus to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on its territory, Vladimir Putin said, in a statement that experts see as another attempt to exploit Western fears of nuclear escalation, the risk of which remains extremely low.

The latest on the war in Ukraine, day 396, LIVETEXT:

08:42 The announcement of the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus has nothing to do with the risk of an escalation of nuclear war, which remains extremely low, according to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

“Putin is trying to exploit Western fears of nuclear escalation by deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Russia has long possessed nuclear weapons capable of hitting any target that Belarusian tactical nuclear weapons can reach.

We continue to understand that Putin is a risk-averse player who constantly threatens to use nuclear weapons with no intention of doing so to shake the West’s resolve,” ISW said.

07:53 Josep Borrell: The EU is trying not to be dependent on China, as it was on Russian gas.

“We discovered that dependencies that were components of peace are also weapons that can be turned against us,” said the head of European diplomacy.

A brief summary of the latest news:

• “Russia must lose on the battlefield, in the economy, in international relations, and in attempts to replace historical truth with some imperial myths,” Zelenskyy said.
• The President of Ukraine noted that he did not receive any offer from China to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, although he sent “direct messages” through diplomatic channels that he wants to talk to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Zelensky also expressed skepticism about China’s 12-point plan for a “political solution to the Ukrainian crisis.”
• Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Raphael Grossi, announced that next week he will visit the Zaporizhzhia NPP for the second time since the Russian invasion.
• At least 16 civilians have been killed and another 59 injured as a result of Russian bombings that targeted eight regions of Ukraine, the Ukrainian army said on Saturday.
• A group of 17 children returned to Ukraine this week with the help of a non-governmental organization for “deportation” from Russia or from occupied Ukrainian territories: “Mom, I don’t want to tell you, you don’t sleep at night.”
• More than 5,000 ex-criminals were pardoned after completing their contract to participate in hostilities as part of the Russian PMK “Wagner” against Ukraine, Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday.
• Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday that the Moscow parliament should pass a law that would ban anyone from the category of “foreign agents” from earning money in Russia.
• A Russian spy who created himself in Brazil, then operated in the United States and moved to The Hague, where he was caught after trying to infiltrate the International Criminal Court, sent information to his superiors in Moscow that turned out to be false.
• Important voices in the Russian information space are increasingly actively preparing their audience for a possible Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Institute for the Study of War notes, emphasizing that this is “deep fear.”
• Vladimir Putin’s troops have almost lost their strength in the offensive on Bakhmut and are shifting their attention to Avdiyivka and Kremini, where they only want to stabilize the front line, according to British military analysts.
• Putin held a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin said on Saturday. Erdogan thanked Putin for his “positive attitude” to the continuation of the Black Sea grain agreement, according to Moscow.

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• Saturday’s coverage of Russian aggression was LIVE on HotNews.ro