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The European Commission proposes to ban transactions with the Russian Central Bank and freeze its assets in the European Union, the commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, confirmed at a press conference.

Von der Leyen claimed that this step will prevent Russia from financing Russian President Vladimir "Putin's war."

She recalled that the EU intended to disconnect key Russian banks from the SWIFT system.

Russian deterrence forces on high alert 

Earlier, EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell touched on Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to put the deterrence forces on alert in light of the rising tensions in Ukraine following the special military operation in the Donbass region.

At a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, and the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, Putin gave the order to put the deterrence forces of the Russian army to a special mode of combat duty.

Putin also accused NATO of stepping up its aggressive rhetoric against Moscow, going beyond what he called the "illegitimate" economic sanctions.

"This afternoon, Putin has announced that he is putting Russian nuclear deterrence forces on high alert, it is important to stress that the nuclear forces of Russia has been put on high alert," Borrell told reporters.

Russian & Ukrainian delegations in Belarus for negotiations

This comes as Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported earlier that the Russian and Ukrainian delegations had begun arriving in Belarus for negotiations, as Kiev agreed this morning to hold negotiations in the Belarusian city of Gomel.

Our correspondent revealed that Russia’s conditions in the Gomel negotiations will be strict and not subject to concessions.