Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov called the statement of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on the transfer of the Iskander-M tactical missile system to Belarus a pure bluff.

"As for nuclear weapons: this is a pure bluff of the Russian Federation. They have a great desire to enter into negotiations as soon as possible and negotiate behind our backs," Danilov said during the discussion dubbed "Ukraine in the face of external challenges" at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center.

In order to reach these negotiations [on ending the war on the terms of the Russian Federation], Russia is doing everything possible and impossible, including using the tactics of nuclear blackmail, the NSDC secretary noted.

He also suggested that Russia will continue to try to escalate the situation.

At the same time, according to Danilov, the upcoming talks between the presidents of France and China will be important in this context.

Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russia had handed over to Belarus the Iskander-M tactical complex, which can carry nuclear-armed missiles.

Also, according to him, the Belarusian military allegedly already began training on the use of this complex on April 3 in order to protect the "Union State."