 Kremlin resorts to nuclear blackmail again. The US-based Institute for the Study of War ISW has stated that the Kremlin continues to attempt to use nuclear threats to deter the provision of Western military aid to Ukraine ahead of Ukraine's planned counter-offensive. ISW analysts suggest that the Kremlin will likely try to force Belarus to integrate into the Union state further when Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko meet in Moscow. The Kremlin continues to try to use nuclear threats to deter Western military assistance to Ukraine ahead of a planned Ukrainian counter-offensive. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu justified Russia's decision to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, accusing NATO of intensifying combat training and intelligence activities near the Russian and Belarusian borders and accused the West of escalating the war in Ukraine by providing additional military aid to Ukraine. In addition, the Kremlin continues to make efforts to falsely assure the Russian public that the war in Ukraine will not have significant long-term economic consequences.