Ukraine’s Western allies will not abandon their support for Ukraine in the war against Russia, despite the Kremlin's threats to use nuclear weapons.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, during the 18th Annual Conference of the Alliance for Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, said that Russia seeks to undermine the foundations of the international rules-based system by ignoring, violating or abandoning a large part of the network of global arms control agreements that have kept the world safe.

"These are irresponsible acts. Designed to deter NATO Allies from supporting Ukraine. But they will not work. Because while we take Russia’s threats seriously, we will not be intimidated," the NATO Secretary General said.

He pointed out that Russia has suspended its participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, does not comply with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and is increasing its provocative nuclear rhetoric, threatening to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

"Russia is the most direct threat to our security," Stoltenberg added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that tactical nuclear weapons would be deployed in Belarus by July and compared his own nuclear plans to the US deployment of its weapons in Europe. He stressed that Russia would not violate its non-proliferation pledge.

After that, Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, spoke about the possibility of deploying Russian strategic nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus.