Russia’s war on Ukraine latest: Ukraine slams Putin’s nuclear weapons plan
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(Reuters) – A senior security adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would destabilize that country, which he says has been “held hostage” by Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the decision on Saturday, sending a warning to NATO about its military support for Ukraine and escalating a standoff with the West.
DIPLOMACY AND SANCTIONS
* Russia and China are not forming a military alliance and cooperation between their armed forces is “transparent,” Putin said in comments aired on Sunday, days after he received Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Kremlin.
* Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Saturday he would urge a fair peace in Ukraine’s war that includes “territorial integrity” when he visits China next week.
* Putin held a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin said. Erdogan thanked Putin for his “positive attitude” in extending the Black Sea grain deal, the Kremlin said in a statement.
BATTLEFIELD
* Ukrainian forces have managed to blunt Russia’s offensive in and around the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut, where the situation is stabilizing, Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhniy said on Saturday. Separately, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said the month-long Russian assault on the city had stalled, largely due to heavy troop losses.
* Ukraine’s General Staff said Sunday Ukrainian forces repelled 85 Russian attacks in several parts of the Eastern Front, including the Bakhmut area, over the past 24 hours.
* Rafael Grossi, chief of the UN nuclear watchdog, said Saturday he would visit the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine next week to assess the serious situation there.
* More than 5,000 former criminals have been pardoned after ending their contracts to fight in Russia’s Wagner mercenary group against Ukraine, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday.
*Reuters has not been able to independently verify battlefield reports.
BUSINESS
* Ukraine will no longer resort to “dangerous” monetary financing to fund the war against Russia, its central bank governor Andriy Pyshnyi told the Financial Times in an interview.
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(Compiled by Reuters editors)