A top security adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would destabilize that country, which he said had been taken “hostage” by Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the decision on Saturday, sending a warning to NATO over its military support for Ukraine and escalating a standoff with the West.

DIPLOMACY AND SANCTIONS

* Russia and China are not creating a military alliance and the cooperation between their armed forces is “transparent,” Putin said in comments broadcast on Sunday, days after hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the Kremlin.

* Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday he would push for fair peace in the war in Ukraine that included “territorial integrity,” when he visits China next week.

* Putin held a phone call 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 stabilising, commander in chief General Valery Zaluzhniy said on Saturday. Separately, Britain’s defense ministry said the months-long Russian assault on the city had stalled, mainly as a result of heavy troop losses.

* The Ukraine General Staff said on Sunday Ukrainian forces had repelled 85 Russian attacks over the past 24 hours in several parts of the eastern front, including the Bakhmut area.

* UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Saturday he will 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 finishing their contracts to fight in Russia’s Wagner mercenary group against Ukraine, the founder of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Saturday.

*Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports.