Russia's war on Ukraine latest: NATO criticises Putin's nuclear rhetoric

NATO slammed Vladimir Putin for "dangerous" nuclear rhetoric after the Russian president announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, while Russian forces intensified shelling of the frontline Ukrainian city of Avdiivka.

DIPLOMACY AND SANCTIONS * Ukraine criticized Putin's plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus and called for an emergency U.N. Security Council session to address the move.

* EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged Belarus not to host Russian nuclear weapons, saying it could face further sanctions if it did. Lithuania said it would call for new sanctions against Moscow and Minsk in response to Russia's plan. * 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 * Russia is turning Ukraine's Avdiivka into "a place from post-apocalyptic movies", intensifying shelling and forcing a nearly full shutdown of the frontline city, the top local official said on Sunday.

* On Sunday, Russian shelling targeted two high-rise buildings in Avdiivka, which is just 10 km (6 miles) from the northern outskirts of the city of Donetsk that has been under Moscow's control since 2014. * Ukraine's General Staff said on Sunday its forces had repelled 85 Russian attacks during the past 24 hours across the eastern front, including the Bakhmut area.

* Russian air defences halted a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian town on Sunday in which three people were hurt and apartment blocks were damaged, its defence ministry said. * International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said he will visit the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine this week to assess the situation.

* The U.N. nuclear watchdog head will not travel to Russia this week, but a visit is possible in the near future, Russian news agency RIA reported early on Monday. * 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 verify battlefield reports. QUOTES

"I am sad to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies," the city's military administration head Vitaliy Barabash said on the Telegram messaging app. RECENT IN-DEPTH STORIES

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