Ukraine and Russia: what you need to know

Russia has struck a deal with neighbouring Belarus to station tactical nuclear weapons on its territory, Tass news agency has quoted President Vladimir Putin as saying.

The United States defence department said there were no indications Russia was preparing to use nuclear weapons after Moscow’s announcement.

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. Separately, Britain’s defence ministry said the months-long Russian assault on the city had stalled, mainly due to heavy troop losses.

* United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi will visit the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine next week to assess the serious situation there, he said.

* More than 5000 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.

DIPLOMACY AND SANCTIONS

* Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he would push for fair peace in the war in Ukraine that included “territorial integrity” during a state visit to China next week.

* The Kremlin said Putin held a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan thanked Putin for his “positive attitude” in extending the Black Sea grain deal, the Kremlin said in a statement.

* Russia’s parliamentary speaker proposed banning the activities of the International Criminal Court after it issued an arrest warrant earlier this month for Putin, accusing him of war crimes.

ECONOMY

* 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.