JENS STOLTENBERG

But after talks with President Xi in Moscow, Mr Putin claims the West and Ukraine are not ready for peace.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that he would call a high-level meeting of the military organization’s main forum for cooperation with Ukraine next month despite objections from Hungary. The NATO-Ukraine Commission hasn't met at ministerial level for several years. The last meeting was held at a lower level in 2019 in Kyiv, with NATO ambassadors joining Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and some of his Cabinet ministers, about three years before Russia's full-scale invasion.

The barrage included 15 missile strikes in the Kharkiv region, its governor said, as air raid warnings spread across the country. Alarms blared for hours in Kyiv.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned Wednesday the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut may fall into Russian hands in the coming days following months of intense fighting. His remarks come as Russia's Wagner mercenary group, which has spearheaded the attack on Bakhmut, claimed to have captured the eastern bank of the industrial town that has been devastated in the longest battle since Moscow invaded. In Stockholm, EU ministers were discussing plans to ramp up defence production and rush ammunition to Ukraine as it burns through thousands of howitzer shells each day. Wagner chief and Kremlin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin said on social media Wednesday that his forces "have taken all of the eastern part of Bakhmut", a salt-mining town with a pre-war population of 80,000.The intense fighting around Bakhmut has been the longest and bloodiest in Russia's more than year-long invasion, which has devastated swathes of Ukraine and displaced millions of people."What we see is that Russia is throwing more troops, more forces and what Russia lacks in quality they try to make up in quantity," Stoltenberg told reporters in Stockholm on the sidelines of an EU defence ministers meeting."We cannot rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days," the head of the US-led military alliance said, adding that "this does not necessarily reflect any turning point of the war". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in an interview with CNN what could happen if Bakhmut falls to Russian forces.  "We understand that after Bakhmut, (Russian forces) could go further" and attack nearby cities in the Donetsk region."They could go to Kramatorsk, they could go to Sloviansk, it would be an open road for the Russians after Bakhmut to other towns in Ukraine, in the Donetsk direction," Zelensky said in an interview set to air Wednesday.- Russia aims for 'further offensive' -Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told military officials during a televised meeting on Tuesday that taking control of the city would allow for "further offensive operations" in eastern Ukraine.Prigozhin estimated the day before that between "12,000 and 20,000" Ukrainian troops were still defending the town. Zelensky told CNN that his armed forces were resolved to stay in Bakhmut."Of course, we have to think about the lives of our military. But we have to do whatever we can whilst we're getting weapons, supplies, and our army is getting ready for the counter-offensive."Zelensky on Wednesday hosted UN chief Antonio Guterres in Kyiv as he makes his third visit to Ukraine since Russia's invasion. In a statement following the talks, Guterres underscored the importance of extending an expiring deal that has allowed Ukraine to export its grain."I want to underscore the critical importance of the rollover of the Black Sea Grain Initiative on 18 March," Guterres said.EU defence ministers were meeting in Stockholm to discuss a plan to rush one billion euros worth of ammunition to Ukraine as pressure mounts on Kyiv's allies to bolster supplies to the war effort.Ukraine's Western backers warn that Kyiv is facing a critical shortage of 155-millimetre howitzer shells as it fires thousands each day in its fight against the grinding Russian offensive. "The current rate of consumption compared to the current rate of production of ammunition is not sustainable, and therefore we need to ramp up production," Stoltenberg said.During a visit to Canada on Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen underscored a European resolve to ward off Russian aggression.But a report by The New York Times on Tuesday claiming that US officials had seen new intelligence indicating a "pro-Ukrainian group" was behind last year's sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines could raise difficult questions among the allies."This is not our activity," Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told reporters in Stockholm.- 'Glory to Ukraine' -As Russia said it was closer to capturing Bakhmut, Ukraine identified the man who was shot dead in a video that sparked outrage on social media as one of its soldiers.The footage shows what appears to be a detained Ukrainian combatant standing in a shallow trench and smoking, and then being shot after saying "Glory to Ukraine"."Based on a preliminary examination, we believe that the video may be authentic," a spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Office told AFP on Wednesday.In Kyiv, Guterres said the "shocking" footage was "yet another tragic reminder that the laws of war must be strictly respected". Both sides have said the Bakhmut battle has cost a significant number of troops, though neither has given figures.Ukrainian officials say around 4,000 civilians remain in the town, which has been virtually flattened, including dozens of children.bur/oc/jmm

NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg indicated Tuesday it is a matter of when, not if, Ukraine will join the alliance and said member nations would continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.

The military alliance is publicly committed to preserving Ukraine's independence. But discussions on how to reach that goal are quietly contentious.

NATO's chief says the military alliance has seen "some signs" that China may be planning to support Russia in its war in Ukraine, and strongly urged Beijing to desist from what would be a violation of international law.

NATO’s chief says the military alliance has seen “some signs” that China may be planning to support Russia in its war in Ukraine, and strongly urged Beijing to desist from what would be a violation of international law.

Biden will meet with the Bucharest Nine, a group of eastern NATO countries concerned by Russian aggression, and Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Warsaw.

The Turkish disaster management agency, AFAD, has raised the number of confirmed fatalities from the earthquake in Turkey to 41,156

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said China is closely watching Russia's success in Ukraine, with the war's outcome likely to have major reverberations in Asia-Pacific.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is urging Turkey to ratify the applications of Finland and Sweden to join the military organization

The United Nations has launched a funding appeal for $1 billion to help humanitarian agencies in Turkey assist millions of people affected by last week's earthquakes.

In just a year, NATO has moved from cautiously providing non-lethal support to Ukraine to exhorting allies to send heavier and more high-tech weapons.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken leaves Washington this week for meetings in Germany, Turkey and Greece.

Russian forces are claiming some battlefield success as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine labors to gain momentum almost a year after it began.

‘The current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production,” Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, said this week. “This puts our defence industries under strain.” In two sentences he confirmed a major hitch in the West’s efforts to support Kyiv, one that experts have been highlighting since the first months of the war: we are running out of supplies.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is playing down the importance of Finland and Sweden joining the world’s biggest security organization at the same time

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is playing down the importance of Finland and Sweden joining the world’s biggest security organization at the same time.

Despite Zelensky’s appeals, allies are hesitant and don’t see aircraft as the most immediate battlefield need

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Ukraine is using up ammunition far faster than its allies can provide it just as Russia ramps up its military offensive.

Russia has begun its anticipated offensive in Ukraine, sending in thousands of additional troops, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

Ukraine's presidential office says fierce battles are raging outside Bakhmut as Russian forces are pushing their advance on the eastern city with heavy shelling and infantry attacks.

Stoltenberg said European countries have seen an increase in Chinese intelligence activities.

"China is not our adversary," Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, "but we must understand the scale of the challenge and work together to address it."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says China’s growing assertiveness and collaboration with Russia poses a challenge not only to Asia but also to Europe.

NATO stressed the need for democratic countries to work together with the alliance to defend the international order as China and Russia lead an authoritarian pushback.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is on a Pacific swing, part of an effort to expand alliances as China engages in more "destabilizing" behavior.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has sharply criticized China for “bullying its neighbors and threatening Taiwan” and stressed the need for Japan and other democracies to work together with the alliance to defend the international order.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is calling for South Korea to provide direct military support to Ukraine, saying Kyiv is in urgent need of weapons to fight off the prolonged Russian invasion.

Kyiv appears confident that, as with Western tanks, it will eventually be given F-16s too.

Germany has again refused to commit to allowing German-made tanks to be sent to Ukraine despite intense pressure. "We are looking into the matter, what the current status is regarding our Leopard tanks," he said in translated comments. He noted that the war had reached a "pivotal moment," however, and that allies "must provide heavier units to Ukraine. Germany was believed to be reluctant to send its own tanks unless the U.S. delivered its own Abrams vehicles. Washington has been noncommittal, saying that just the training to maintain and operate its tanks would require months.

A senior Turkish official says Sweden and Finland are unlikely to be able to join NATO before June.

NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg says it’s time for Sweden to join the military alliance because it has done what’s necessary to secure Turkey’s approval for membership

It’s time for Sweden to join NATO because it has done what’s necessary to secure Turkey’s approval for membership, the military alliance's secretary-general said Monday. “I have said that time has come to bring to an end the ratification process for Sweden,” Jens Stoltenberg told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet in an interview. In May, Sweden and neighboring Finland dropped their longstanding policies of military nonalignment and applied to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia continued airstrikes on Ukraine during the first two days of 2023, as fury grew over Ukrainian forces firing rockets at a Russian military base in the occupied city of Makiivka.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called on NATO allies to stock up on weapons to supply Ukraine, to fight off attacks from Russia.

Russia continues to pound Ukraine's energy infrastructure too with devastating consequences for civilians.

Pro-Kremlin officials accused Ukrainian forces of using HIMARS rockets to attack Melitopol, and killing two. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

The head of NATO has expressed worry that the fighting in Ukraine could spin out of control and become a war between Russia and NATO.

The head of NATO has expressed worry that the fighting in Ukraine could spin out of control and become a war between Russia and NATO

The head of NATO has expressed worry that the fighting in Ukraine could spin out of control and become a war between Russia and NATO.

The head of NATO expressed worry that the fighting in Ukraine could spin out of control and become a war between Russia and NATO, according to an interview released Friday.. “If things go wrong, they can go horribly wrong,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in remarks to Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

Officials say the U.S. is sending an additional $275 million in military aid to Ukraine, including large amounts of ammunition and high-tech systems that can be used to detect and counter drones in its ongoing war with Russia.

The war in Ukraine has put the European Union’s expansion at the top of the agenda as officials from the Western Balkans and EU leaders prepare to meet Tuesday.

Russian shelling has cut off power in much of the recently liberated Ukrainian city of Kherson just days after it was restored.

Germany and Norway are urging NATO to set up a center tasked with protecting undersea infrastructure such as gas pipelines and telecommunication cables

Germany and Norway are urging NATO to set up a center tasked with protecting undersea infrastructure such as gas pipelines and telecommunication cables.

Moldova’s Foreign Minister says that apart from Ukraine, his country has been hit hardest by Russia’s invasion of its neighbor, as NATO offered fresh support to three countries shaken by the effects of Russia’s 10-month-old war.

NATO member states have committed to continue supporting Ukraine as Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stresses the need to defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Tuesday that Russia is using 'winter as a weapon of war' as it continues to bombard Ukraine in aerial assaults.

It's a commitment that NATO leaders made to Ukraine 14 years ago, but it won't happen anytime soon and some say it influenced Russia's invasion.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his NATO counterparts are gathering in Romania to drum up urgently needed support for Ukraine, including deliveries of electrical components for the war-torn country’s devastated power transmission network

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says war-torn Ukraine will one day become a member of the world’s largest security alliance.

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

NATO is returning to the scene of one of its most controversial decisions to repeat a vow that Ukraine will join the military alliance one day.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military organization stands ready to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia “for as long as it takes.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military organization stands ready to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia “for as long as it takes.”.

Erroneous reports by the Associated Press and other outlets suggested that Russia may have attacked a NATO country, potentially triggering a global conflict.

The Associated Press was forced to issue a correction on Wednesday after “erroneously” reporting that Russian missiles crossed into Poland on Tuesday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said there was no indication that the missile that struck the Polish border village was deliberate.

NATO members Germany and the U.K. were among those stressing the need for a full investigation into the strike that killed two people in Poland.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that a preliminary investigation suggested that Ukrainian air defenses landed in Poland and killed two, but said that Russia was 'ultimately responsible.'

NATO's secretary general says the missile "hasn't changed our fundamental assessment of the threat against NATO allies."

NATO's chief and the president of Poland say there are no indications that a missile that fell on Polish farmland and killed two people was a deliberate attack.

Poland President Andrzej Duda tweeted that he spoke with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after Russian missiles reportedly killed two in Poland.

Kyiv reports rapid advances of seven kilometres after Moscow said it would leave the key city.

Russia says it has begun withdrawing troops from a strategic Ukrainian city in a potential turning point in the grinding war.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says that leaders from the military alliance’s 30 member countries will meet in Lithuania in July 2023

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is urging Turkey to set aside its reservations over Finland and Sweden joining the military alliance.

NATO's secretary general was aboard the USS George H.W. Bush as it took part in defense drills not far from Ukraine.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Russian President Vladimir Putin's nuclear rhetoric is "is dangerous and it is reckless and irresponsible." (Oct. 26)

The annual exercise has been described by U.S. officials as "routine" around this time of year.

"For Ukraine, this means more saved lives and a better protected energy infrastructure," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in response.

NATO has begun its annual nuclear exercises in northwestern Europe as tensions simmer over the war in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin’s threat to use any means to defend Russian territory.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Russia would be crossing a “very important line” if it used nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

NATO, as an organization, is not directly involved in the war in Ukraine.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance will push ahead with long-planned nuclear exercises next week.

Officials in Europe praised the awarding of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to activists standing up for human rights and democracy in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, but authorities in Belarus are scorning the move.

The heads of nine central and eastern European NATO members issued a joint statement backing a path to membership for Ukraine in the U.S.-led security alliance.

The U.S. Coast Guard says a ship on routine patrol in the Bering Sea came across a guided missile cruiser from China.

How will American leaders and their allies respond if President Vladimir Putin seeks to escalate his way out of his bad situation on Ukraine’s battlefields.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued another grave warning to the West after his country’s military suffered a series of embarrassing setbacks in Ukraine.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the head of NATO say Ukrainian armed forces have made significant early gains against Russian forces in southern and eastern Ukraine.

Greece’s government has written to its NATO and European Union partners and the U.N. chief, urging the formal condemnation of increasingly aggressive rhetoric from neighboring Turkey.

President Joe Biden says he's sending $2.98 billion in new military aid to Ukraine that will enable forces there to fight for years to come.

President Joe Biden calls Finland and Sweden “our allies of the high north.”.

Wartime rivals Serbia and Kosovo will hold high-level crisis talks which the European Union mediators hope will de-escalate growing tensions in the Balkans.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. will conduct more military exercises with Baltic nations such as Latvia, and look to provide increased training.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell played a pivotal role in the Senate ratifying NATO membership for Sweden and Finland.

Finland’s Parliament has passed amended legislation on border security that allows for the closure of crossing points with Russia.

China has launched a scathing attack on the U.S. and NATO, days before a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Spain is increasing military spending as it works toward meeting a NATO commitment by dedicating 2% of gross domestic product to defense.

The governor of the last remaining eastern province partly under Ukraine's control urged his more than 350,000 residents to flee as Russian troops escalated their offensive.

The 30 NATO allies have signed off on the protocols needed for Sweden and Finland to become members.

The head of NATO says an unstable world could get even more dangerous if the alliance does not remain strong and united.

NATO has for the first time singled out China as one of its strategic priorities for the next decade, warning about its growing military ambitions, confrontational rhetoric toward Taiwan, and increasingly close ties to Russia.

When the leaders of Finland, Sweden and Turkey met with NATO’s chief this week, some remained pessimistic the meeting would lessen Turkey’s objections to the Nordic pair’s historic request to join NATO.

President Joe Biden says the U.S. is enhancing its military presence in Europe for the long haul to bolster regional security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning Finland and Sweden that if they welcome NATO troops and military infrastructure onto their territory, Russia will respond in kind.