Paris, Feb 27 (AP) French President Emmanuel Macron has asked his Belarus counterpart to demand that the country, Ukraine's neighbour, quickly order Russian troops to leave, claiming Moscow has been given the green light to deploy nuclear arms there.

In a phone conversation on Saturday, Macron denounced "the gravity of a decision that would authorise Russia to deploy nuclear arms on Belarus soil," a statement by the presidential palace said.

Also Read | Russian President Vladimir Putin's Invasion of Ukraine Not Going As per Plan Due to Kremlin's 'Overconfidence'.

Macron told Alexander Lukashenko that fraternity between the people of Belarus and Ukraine should lead Belarus to "refuse to be a vassal and an accomplice to Russia in the war against Ukraine," the statement said.

Belarus was one one of several axes used by Russia to launch attacks on Ukraine, with Belarus the point to move toward the capital Kyiv, a senior U.S. defence official has said.

Also Read | Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky Speaks to PM Narendra Modi, Seeks Political Support at UNSC.

Macron has pushed persistently to try to claw out a ceasefire amid the war, using the telephone to talk to all sides, diplomacy and sanctions by the European Union. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)