Russian Defence minister Sergei Shoigu says Russia has no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine

(Representative Image)

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday during a speech at the Moscow international security conference that Russia had no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Shoigu also alleged that Ukrainian military operations were being planned by the United States and Britain, and that NATO had increased its troop deployment in Eastern and Central Europe "several times over".

Referring to the New START Treaty, Shoigu said that talks to extend the treaty were "a two-way street", and that the situation around the U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control treaty was "not easy".