The Kremlin blaming remarks from Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for Vladimir Putin ordering Russia’s nuclear deterrent on high alert has been widely decried as an attempt to distract from Moscow’s actions during the invasion of Ukraine.

       The Russian president said he had placed Moscow’s nuclear forces on a “special regime of combat duty” in response to “aggressive statements” from members of the Nato defence alliance.

       Vladimir Putin (Sergei Guneyev/AP)

       (AP)

       Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov went further on Monday, blaming the escalation during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on Ms Truss.

       “Statements were made by various representatives at various levels on possible altercations or even collisions and clashes between Nato and Russia,” he told a press briefing, the Interfax news agency reported.

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       “We believe that such statements are absolutely unacceptable. I would not call the authors of these statements by name, although it was the British foreign minister.”

       It was not clear what statements the Kremlin was referring to.

       Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Whatever political disagreements any of us have with Liz Truss – and I have many deep differences with her – we should not fall for this transparent Russian attempt to divert.

       “The only person responsible for Putin’s despicable nuclear threat is Putin.”

       The Foreign Office also said the comments from Mr Peskov were a “clear attempt to distract from Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine”.

       An ally of Ms Truss added: “Nothing Liz has said warrants that sort of escalation. It’s clearly designed to distract from the situation on the ground in Ukraine.”

       Ahead of Mr Putin’s escalation on Sunday, Ms Truss had told Sky News that the “long-running conflict is about freedom and democracy in Europe”.

       “If we don’t stop Putin in Ukraine we are going to see others under threat – the Baltics, Poland, Moldova, and it could end up in a conflict with Nato,” she added.

       On Sunday she announced further sanctions against Russia in the Commons, telling MPs Mr Putin had been “confounded” by the collective response of western allies, leading him to resort to “more and more extreme rhetoric”.

       British and US officials have played down Mr Putin’s nuclear threat as it is unclear how his order changes Russia’s nuclear posture.

       Prime Minister Boris Johnson dismissed the alert as a “distraction” from the struggle Russian troops are facing amid fierce resistance in Ukraine.

       Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said his 12-year-old son had called him worried about the step, as he downplayed the threat’s significance.

       “We don’t see or recognise in the sort of phrase or the status he described as anything that is a change to what they have currently as their nuclear posture,” he told BBC Breakfast.

       (PA Graphics)

       (PA Graphics)

       “This is predominantly about Putin putting it on the table just to remind people, remind the world, that he has a deterrent.

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       “We will not do anything to escalate in that area, we will not do anything to feed any miscalculation, we take it very, very seriously.

       “But at the moment this is a battle of rhetoric that President Putin is deploying, and we just have to make sure we manage it properly.”