Russian troops ‘flood into Belarus’ as ex-Nato boss tells West to ‘prepare for war’

Leaders of G7 nations have warned Vladimir Putin that there will be “severe consequences” if he uses nuclear weapons in his war with Ukraine.

“We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms and recall that indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilian populations constitute a war crime,” the leaders said in a statement. We will hold President Putin and those responsible to account.”

Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the G7 for an international monitoring mission on the Belarus border after “trainloads” of Russian troops arrived in the neighbouring country.

Mr Zelensky told the G7: “Russia is trying to directly draw Belarus into this war, playing a provocation that we are allegedly preparing an attack on this country.”

Elsewhere, a former Nato commander has urged the West to prepare for the war in Ukraine to spread further into Europe.

Richard Shirreff, Nato’s former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR), said: “The chilling factor here is the nuclear one and some form of nuclear escalation.”