By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE:NATO has criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin following his decision to announce possible use of dangerous nuclear weapons as tension escalates between Moscow and the West amid the war in Ukraine.

NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,its purpose among others is to guarantee the security of its members through military means.

Aljazeera reported on Monday that the condemnation comes after President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday that his country would station tactical nuclear arms in Belarus.

Putin said on Saturday that the deployment was similar to moves from the United States,which stores such weapons in bases across Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey – an analogy Western allies called “misleading”.

With fears of a nuclear war rising since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, experts believe that any Russian strike would likely involve small-size battlefield weapons, described as “tactical”, as opposed to “strategic” high-powered long-range nuclear weapons.

Ukraine said it was seeking an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to counter Russia’s “nuclear blackmail”.

“Ukraine expects effective actions to counteract the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail from the United Kingdom, China, the United States and France,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said on Sunday.

“We demand that an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council be immediately convened for this purpose,”it added.