Russia-Ukraine war live: US and EU decry Moscow’s plan to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus

EU’s Josep Borrell condemns move while US president Joe Biden has ‘extremely negative’ reaction to reports it is going ahead

• Day 458 of Russia’s war against Ukraine

US president Joe Biden has said he had an “extremely negative” reaction to reports that Russia has moved ahead with its plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, while the European Union has condemned the plan.

Reuters reports that the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said:

This is a step which will lead to further extremely dangerous escalation.

We call on Russia to abide by these commitments. The Belarusian regime is an accomplice in Russia’s illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.