Russia's war on Ukraine latest: NATO criticises Putin for 'dangerous and irresponsible' nuclear rhetoric

"We've in fact seen no indication that he has any intention to use nuclear weapons – period - inside Ukraine," Kirby told U.S. broadcaster CBS on Sunday. * 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.

NATO on Sunday criticised Russia for its "dangerous and irresponsible" nuclear rhetoric, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, escalating a standoff with the West. Ukraine's foreign ministry on Sunday called for an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council and for the international community to "take decisive measures" to prevent Russia's use of nuclear weapons.

DIPLOMACY AND SANCTIONS * EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged Belarus not to host Russian nuclear weapons, saying it could face further sanctions if it did.

* A top security adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Russian plans would destabilise Belarus, which he said had been taken "hostage" by Moscow. * White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States had seen no sign that Putin had moved any nuclear weapons. "We've in fact seen no indication that he has any intention to use nuclear weapons – period - inside Ukraine," Kirby told U.S. broadcaster CBS on Sunday.

* 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. 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 defence 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.

* U.N. 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. 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. RECENT IN-DEPTH STORIES

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* SPECIAL REPORT-Wagner's convicts tell of horrors of Ukraine war and loyalty to their leader (Compiled by Reuters editors)

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