TALLINN - Visiting Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday stressed diplomatic efforts to solve the ongoing Ukraine crisis.

Stoltenberg made the remarks at a joint press conference with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and visiting British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Tapa Army Base in northern Estonia.

He called for an immediate stop of the war in Ukraine, pullout of Russian forces and the engaging of diplomatic efforts.

"Over the last weeks, in response to Russia's attacks on Ukraine, we have increased our defensive presence in the air, on land, and at sea," he noted.

There are "over 100 jets at high alert operating from 30 different locations and over 120 ships from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean," Stoltenberg said, adding that Britain, the United States and other allies are deploying thousands more troops to the eastern part of the alliance.

"For the first time in our history, we are deploying the NATO response force," said the NATO chief, who termed NATO as a defensive alliance that does not seek conflict with Russia.

The second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine could take place on Wednesday, the TASS news agency reported Tuesday citing sources.

The first round of the negotiations, which lasted about five hours, concluded on Monday in Belarus' Gomel region, with no clear breakthrough.

For his part, Johnson said that he wanted to be "crystal clear" that "we will not fight Russian forces in Ukraine" and "our reinforcements, like the reinforcements here in Tapa, are firmly within the borders of NATO members."

On the number of reinforced troops, the British prime minister said "we will always keep things under review." He also termed the "no-fly zone" on Russian aircraft over Ukraine as a very big step that "simply is not on the agenda of any NATO country."

More than 900 members of the Royal Welsh infantry regiment of the British Army and nearly 200 Danish troops together with their vehicles and equipment will be joining NATO Battlegroup Estonia at Tapa Army Base, the Estonian Public Broadcasting reported on Tuesday.

Estonian President Alar Karis met with Stoltenberg at Tallinn airport earlier on the day.

Stoltenberg also made a trip to Poland with a visit to Lask airbase on Tuesday.

MOSCOW - The second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine could take place on Wednesday, the TASS news agency reported Tuesday citing sources.

The first round of the negotiations, which lasted about five hours, concluded on Monday in Belarus' Gomel region, with no clear breakthrough.

"Most importantly, we agreed to continue the negotiation process. The next meeting will be held in the coming days on the Polish-Belarusian border," Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation, said after the talks.

China's fundamental position on the Ukraine issue is open, transparent and consistent, as the country always maintains that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday in a phone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Wang said China called for Russia and Ukraine to find solutions to the problem through negotiations and supports all constructive international efforts conducive to the political settlement of the current crisis.

Wang said China deeply regrets that a conflict has broken out between Ukraine and Russia, and is extremely concerned about the harm to civilians, adding that the immediate priority is to try the utmost to defuse the situation and prevent the conflict from escalating or even getting out of control.

He emphasized the urgent need to prevent harm to civilians and the emergence of humanitarian crises and to ensure the safe and timely access of humanitarian aid.

Wang urged Ukraine to shoulder its due international responsibilities with regard to protecting the safety of Chinese citizens in Ukraine.

He said he hoped that Ukraine would take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens in the country and continue to provide protection and convenience for the evacuation of Chinese citizens.

Kuleba briefed Wang on the first round of talks between Ukraine and Russia, saying that Ukraine is open to a negotiated solution to the conflict and would remain calm and continue the negotiations.

Noting that China has played a constructive role on the Ukraine issue, Kuleba said Ukraine is willing to strengthen communication with China and looks forward to China's mediation in the realization of the cease-fire.

Kuleba also said Ukraine attaches great importance to China's concerns and is assisting the smooth evacuation of Chinese citizens, including students.

In another development, Russia's TASS news agency reported on Tuesday that the second round of Russia-Ukraine talks is planned for Wednesday, quoting a source on the Russian side.

The first round of Russia-Ukraine talks aimed at ending their conflict concluded with no immediate agreement on Monday. The talks, which lasted nearly five hours, took place in the Gomel region of Belarus, near the border with Ukraine.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday that Russia will continue the special military operation in Ukraine until the achievement of its set purpose.

Interfax News Agency reported on Tuesday that Russia is planning to move troops from its Far East region closer to Europe.

The news agency quoted Russia's eastern military district as saying that Russian troops based in the country's Far East region will hold drills in Astrakhan province, which lies on the border between the European and Asian parts of Russia.

Meanwhile, a huge Russian military convoy was massing on the outskirts of Kyiv on Tuesday morning.

Satellite images showed the convoy of armored vehicles, tanks, towed artillery and other vehicles. The convoy is more than 65 kilometers long, stretching from near Antonov airport outside Kyiv to the town of Prybirsk.

Russian troops will carry out an attack on what they said was the infrastructure of Ukraine's intelligence services in Kyiv and urged residents living nearby to leave, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

Blasts were heard in the Ukrainian capital hours after the talks ended on Monday. A mushroom cloud erupted over eastern Kyiv as air raid sirens were sounded early on Tuesday.

Explosions were also reported in and around Brovary, on the outskirts of the capital.

Ukrainians set up checkpoints and blocked streets with piles of sandbags and tires as they waited to take on Russian soldiers.

In Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv, a government building was shelled by the Russian military on Tuesday morning.

Kharkiv's Mayor Igor Terekhov, quoted by Ukrainian media, said that Russian armored vehicles and tanks are "everywhere around the city".

Agencies contributed to this story.

March 1 - Wall Street ended sharply lower on Tuesday, with financial stocks bearing much of the damage for a second straight day as the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepened and stirred anxiety among investors.

Most of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes fell, led by financials.

Wells Fargo tumbled and the broader banks index declined sharply as U.S. 10-year Treasury yields slumped to five-week lows amid a flight to safe-haven debt.

Chevron Corp hit a record high after the oil major also raised its share buyback program and forecast for operating cash-flow through 2026, and as oil prices surged.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 68.04 points, or 1.51%, to end at 4,305.90 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 220.47 points, or 1.60%, to 13,530.93. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 601.80 points, or 1.78%, to 33,290.80.

On a positive note, data showed U.S. manufacturing activity picked up more than expected in February as COVID-19 infections subsided, while construction spending surged in January.

"Given the fact that the U.S. economy is accelerating, the uncertainty will be relatively short lived and it wouldn't be a surprise if the market found its footing sometime over the next couple of weeks when clarity is restored," said Jeff Schulze, investment strategist at ClearBridge Investments.

Target Corp jumped after the big-box retailer forecast 2022 sales and profit above analysts' expectations.

Defense stocks added to recent gains, with Lockheed Martin Corp Northrop Grumman and L3Harris Technologies all rallying.

The CBOE volatility index, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose to its highest since Feb. 24.

Zoom Video Communications Inc slid after it forecast downbeat full-year revenue and profit, signaling a hit from tough competition and lower sign-ups for its core Meetings platform.

Reuters

March 1 - Apple Inc said on Tuesday it has paused all product sales in Russia.

The company also said it was halting all exports into the country and is limiting use of Apple Pay and other services.

Reuters

MOSCOW -- The Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 1,325 Ukrainian military infrastructure objects since the start of the operation, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Tuesday.

The access of Ukrainian troops to the Sea of Azov has been completely blocked, he added.

MOSCOW -- Russia will continue its special military operation in Ukraine until it achieves the main goal of defending Russia from Western threats, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday.

Top officials of the African Union have condemned reports that citizens of African countries have been denied from leaving war–torn Ukraine.

Current chair of the AU and Senegalese President Macky Sall and chairperson of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat on Monday said they are closely following developments in the European nation.

The officials in a statement said they "are particularly disturbed by reports that African citizens on the Ukrainian side of the border are being refused the right to cross the border to safety".

The officials condemned the "ill-treatment" of African citizens by Ukraine's security officers who prevented them from leaving the country.

Thousands of Africans studying in Ukraine are desperate to leave the country.

However, reports say Ukrainian security officials are preventing them from catching buses and trains going to the border, prioritizing Ukrainians.

Those who managed to reach the Ukraine-Poland border also wrote on Twitter that Ukrainian police and army were refusing to let Africans cross.

The AU chiefs denounced the bad treatment against Africans as "unacceptable".

"All people have the right to cross international borders during conflict, and as such, should enjoy the same rights to cross to safety from the conflict in Ukraine, notwithstanding their nationality or racial identity," the two officials said in the statement.

They said reports Africans "are singled out for unacceptable dissimilar treatment would be shockingly racist and in breach of international law".

The chairpersons urged all countries to respect international law and show the same empathy and support to all people fleeing war regardless of their racial identity.

The two also commended efforts by AU member state countries and their embassies in neighboring countries to receive African citizens and their families trying to cross the border from Ukraine to safety.

Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Belarus on Monday for talks on the conflict between the two nations, concluding with an agreement to continue the discussions.

Vladimir Medinsky, a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that the first talks between the two sides since the start of the hostilities lasted nearly five hours and that the envoys "found certain points on which common positions could be foreseen".

He said they agreed to continue the discussions.

Putin denounced the US and its allies on Monday as Ukraine moved to join the European Union.

"All [the US] satellites not only dutifully agree, sing along to its music, but also copy its behavior, and enthusiastically accept the rules they are offered. Therefore, with good reason, we can confidently say that the entire so-called Western bloc, formed by the United States in its own image and likeness, all of it is an empire of lies," Putin said Monday.

Video from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, 300 miles southeast of Kyiv, showed residential areas being shelled. Authorities said at least seven people had been killed and dozens injured.

"I believe Russia is trying to put pressure (on Ukraine) with this simple method," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Monday, in reference to the bombings. He did not offer details on the talks but said that Kyiv would not make concessions "when one side is hitting each other with rocket artillery".

In other developments, the US announced it was expelling 12 members of Russia's United Nations mission, accusing them of spying.

"The US authorities have undertaken another hostile action against the Russian mission to the United Nations, grossly violating the commitments of the host country agreement that they undertook," Russia's ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said Monday.

The UN General Assembly opened its first emergency session in decades, with Assembly President Abdulla Shahid calling for an immediate cease-fire and "a full return to diplomacy and dialogue".

The talks between Ukraine and Russia began on Monday noon local time in the Gomel region of Belarus.

The Russian delegation included officials from the foreign and defense ministries and Putin's office, while the Ukrainian side sent six senior officials, including Oleksiy Reznikov, the Ukrainian defense minister.

The talks were held as Russia is working on a plan to evacuate its citizens from European nations. Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency and the Federal Tourism Agency revealed Sunday that they were working with the Russian Foreign Ministry to evacuate Russian citizens from European nations as those nations continue to impose sanctions on Russia while cutting off Russian aircraft from their airspaces.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Monday that Russian forces had established "total air superiority" over Ukraine.

"Since the beginning of the operation, Russian forces have hit 1,114 Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities ... destroyed 314 tanks and other armored vehicles, 57 multiple rocket-launch systems, 121 field artillery pieces and mortars," he said.

Ukraine's military estimated some 5,300 Russian personnel losses, without specifying how many were killed or captured.

Oleg Sinegubov, a regional official, earlier had said that Kharkiv had been brought under Ukrainian control, and the army was expelling Russian forces.

Moscow said it was besieging the cities of Kherson and Berdyansk. Both are located close to the Crimean Peninsula.

As Western sanctions on Russian banks and other institutions took hold, the ruble plunged, and Russia's central bank scrambled to shore it up, as did Putin, signing a decree restricting foreign currency.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

BRUSSELS - The European Union (EU) should be ready to face the cost of its sanctions against Russia as Moscow is now widely expected to retaliate, EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell warned on Monday.

"Sanctions will backlash, sanctions have a cost ... We have to be ready to pay this price now, because if not, we will have to pay a much bigger price in the future," Borrell said, adding that it was important to be realistic in this situation.

"Energy will not be out of this conflict, like it or not," Borrell said at a press conference following a video conference of EU defense ministers.

As Europe is highly dependent on Russian gas and oil, the EU will have to accelerate its green transition towards renewables, he said.

On Sunday, the EU member states' foreign ministers agreed on a 500-million-euro ($560.7 million) budget for military assistance to be sent to Ukraine -- a move the bloc described as a "watershed moment" in its history. Before that, two sets of sanctions aiming at isolating and weakening Russia had been agreed by the ministers.

Borrell presided over a meeting of the EU defense ministers, which was called to coordinate the member states' efforts to provide military assistance to Ukraine.

"We are creating a clearing house (mediator) to keep track of the Ukrainian requests in one side, and their needs, and our offers, member states offers, in order to be sure of the maximum effectiveness and coordination of our support," explained Borrell.

This unit will be working in coordination with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), he added.

Military help to be sent by the EU to Ukraine includes weapons, munitions and materials that will "allow the Ukrainians to defend themselves," according to Borrell.

As the EU decided to supply military assistance to Ukraine, it is moving from a peace union to a military union, said Borrell.

"Until now, it was considered that the European Union, which is a peace union, not a military union, was not allowed to supply arms to a third country. That's what we are doing now. This is another taboo that falls," he told the press conference, adding that this was a turning point in the history of EU integration.

MOSCOW - Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Belarus have ended, TASS news agency reported Monday.

KHARTOUM - Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council on Monday reiterated its support for dialogue to resolve the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, a council spokesperson said.

The council on Monday held its regular meeting at the Republican Palace in Khartoum and reviewed the Russian-Ukraine conflict, chaired by the council's chairman Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan.

"Sudan stands with the diplomatic solution as a way out of the crisis and supports the currently on-going endeavors between the two countries," the council's spokesperson Salma Abdul-Jabbar Al-Mubarak said in a statement.

The next round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks will take place on the Belarusian-Polish border in the coming days, according to Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation at the talks held in Belarus, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported Monday.

All negotiation positions were discussed in detail during the talks in Belarus, Medinsky said after the consultations.

China's ambassador to the United Nations on Monday called for efforts to create an enabling condition for direct negotiations over the Ukraine crisis and warned against the politicization of humanitarian assistance to the Eastern European nation.

The situation in Ukraine is changing sharply and has evolved to a point that China does not wish to see and where it is not in the interests of any party, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, told an emergency special session of the UN General Assembly, on Ukraine.

Zhang stressed that the immediate priority is for all parties concerned to exercise necessary restraint and prevent further worsening of the situation, while stepping up diplomatic efforts aiming for a political solution.

"China welcomes the start of direct dialogues and negotiations between Russia and Ukraine," he said.

"Ukraine should serve as a bridge of communication between the East and the West, rather than an outpost for confrontation between major powers. We call for efforts to create an enabling atmosphere and conditions for direct negotiations between the parties concerned, as this is the fundamental way to resolve the issue," Zhang said.

The envoy said all actions taken by the UN and the relevant parties of the international community should "prioritize regional peace and stability and the universal security for all and should help de-escalate tensions and facilitate a diplomatic settlement".

"China does not approve of any approach that may exacerbate tensions," said Zhang.

China supports relevant UN agencies' continued work on humanitarian aid in Ukraine, said Zhang. "We believe that the safety of civilian life and property and their humanitarian needs should be effectively guaranteed," he said.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China always earnestly fulfills its responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, the ambassador said.

"It is our consistent and unequivocal position that all countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected, and that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be upheld. China will continue to play a constructive role in the pursuit and realization of peace," he said.

The Cold War has long ended, Zhang said. "The Cold War mentality based on bloc confrontation should be abandoned. Nothing can be gained from stirring up a new Cold War, but everyone will stand to lose," he said.

One country's security should not come at the expense of other countries' security. And regional security should not rely on reinforcing or even expanding military blocs, he stressed.

China supports the European Union, NATO and Russia in resuming dialogues, bearing in mind the concept of indivisible security, properly addressing the legitimate security concerns of all parties, including those of Russia, and striving to put in place a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism, so as to achieve lasting peace and stability on the European continent, he said.

The safety of life and property of all civilians, including those of foreign nationals, and their humanitarian needs should be effectively guaranteed, Zhang told a Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine on Monday.

China welcomes the remarks by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the UN will play an active role in coordinating the humanitarian assistance in Ukraine, he said.

"In our view, the United Nations and the international community should provide humanitarian assistance in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality as set forth in General Assembly Resolution 46/182, and avoid politicization," he said.

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for an immediate end to the military operations in Ukraine.

"The fighting in Ukraine must stop. It is raging across the country, from air, land and sea. It must stop now," he told an emergency special session of the UN General Assembly on Ukraine.

"Enough is enough. Soldiers need to move back to their barracks. Leaders need to move to peace. Civilians must be protected. International humanitarian and human rights law must be upheld. The sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognized borders, must be respected," said Guterres.

"We are facing a tragedy for Ukraine, but also a major regional crisis with potentially disastrous implications for us all," he warned. "Yesterday, Russian nuclear forces were put on high alert. This is a chilling development. The mere idea of a nuclear conflict is simply inconceivable. Nothing can justify the use of nuclear weapons."

The only true solution is peace, said Guterres. "The guns are talking now, but the path of dialogue must always remain open. It is never too late to engage in good-faith negotiations and to address all issues peacefully."

He expressed the hope that the direct talks now taking place between Ukrainian and Russian delegations will produce not only an immediate halt to the fighting, but also a path toward a diplomatic solution.

"I welcome and encourage all peaceful efforts to end the bloodshed and halt this conflict. I thank the countries who have offered to host and facilitate negotiations. The United Nations is ready to support such efforts," he said.

"War is not the answer. It is death, human suffering, senseless destruction and an immense distraction from the real challenges facing humanity," he said.

KYIV - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday signed an official appeal for the European Union (EU) asking for an accession of Ukraine via a new special procedure, the presidential spokesman Sergii Nykyforov said.

In a statement on Facebook, Nykyforov said that the document is historical for Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, Zelensky urged the EU to grant Ukraine membership due to Russia's assault against Ukraine.

The Ukrainian parliament approved in the first reading a bill on including Ukraine's goal to join NATO and the EU in the constitution in 2019.

In 2014, when pro-West authorities came into power in Ukraine, Kyiv abandoned its multilateral policy and set a course toward European integration. Furthermore, the parliament revoked Ukraine's non-aligned status, paving the way for its membership in military blocs.

Since then, Ukraine has strengthened cooperation with the EU and increased interactions with NATO, but neither organization has promised Kyiv immediate membership prospects.

Moscow will retaliate against Western sanctions targeting Russia's aviation industry amid ongoing tensions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

"The guiding principle will be reciprocity, and our own interests will be at the forefront of that," he told reporters on a conference call.

His comments came as the European Union closed airspace to Russian flights and the bloc's historic move on Sunday to supply weapons to Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday evening proposed "shutting down the EU airspace for Russians", a prohibition on "all Russian-owned, Russian-registered or Russian-controlled aircraft". She added that these aircraft will not be able to land in, take off or overfly the EU territory.

Before that, several EU states such as Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria had already announced bans of Russian flights from their airspace.

Russia had already closed its airspace to flights from Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic in response to "unfriendly actions of the aviation authorities" of the mentioned countries.

On Sunday, the EU also said it will fund the purchase and delivery of some $500 million worth of weapons to Ukraine, making it the first time for the bloc to do so through its off-budget European Peace Facility instrument. EU treaties prohibit the bloc from using its normal budget to fund operations.

"For the first time ever, the EU will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment to a country that is under attack," said von der Leyen.

In a statement before an emergency virtual meeting of foreign ministers of the 27 EU member states on Sunday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said they are doing this as "this war requires our engagement in order to support the Ukrainian army－because we live in unprecedented times".

The EU also announced it would ban Russia Today, Sputnik and their subsidiaries from broadcasting in the EU.

Von der Leyen also said the EU will also introduce restrictive measures to punish Belarus for helping Russia.

EU membership

In response to calls for a speedy path to Ukraine's EU membership, von der Leyen expressed that "they are one of us and we want them in".

"We have a process with Ukraine that is, for example, integrating the Ukrainian market into the single market," she told Euronews in an interview on Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a tweet on Sunday that he spoke with von der Leyen about his country's EU membership, as well as defense capabilities and macro-financial assistance.

On Sunday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took another major step by announcing a huge boost in Germany's military spending after a complete reversal of its long-standing policy of not sending arms to conflict zones.

Scholz told an emergency session of the German parliament that his government would set up a special fund of 100 billion euros ($112 billion) to swiftly upgrade its armed forces and that Germany will adhere to the NATO goal of spending 2 percent of its GDP on defense in the future.

Agencies contributed to this story.

The United States and other Western nations are pouring in advanced weapons to Ukraine amid its conflict with Russia.

A direct delivery of Stinger missiles to Ukraine was approved by the White House on Friday. The timing of the delivery is not known, but officials say the US is working on the logistics. The officials agreed to discuss the development only if not quoted by name, The Associated Press reported.

The decision followed Germany's announcement that it will send 500 Stinger missiles and other weapons to Ukraine.

The Stingers are highly accurate and are used to shoot down helicopters and other aircraft. Ukrainian officials have been asking for more of them.

The Stingers are made by Tucson, Arizona-based Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies Corp, based in Massachusetts. Each missile has an estimated cost of about $117,000.

"The Stinger-Reprogrammable Microprocessor, or RMP, missile has … supersonic speed, agility and a highly accurate guidance and control system (that) give the weapon an operational edge against cruise missiles and all classes of aircraft. The system is also used on Apache helicopters for air-to-air engagements," the Raytheon website says.

US President Joe Biden on Saturday also authorized the State Department to send another $350 million in weapons, including Javelin anti-tank weapons.

"Javelin is probably quite effective against most Russian armored vehicles, and it is probably more capable against heavy armor (like tanks) than any other missile system available to Ukraine that can be carried by an individual soldier," Scott Boston, a senior defense analyst at RAND Corp, told Euronews Next.

The Javelin is produced jointly by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, based in Bethesda, Maryland. Each Javelin missile costs about $175,000, according to the Pentagon's 2021 fiscal year budget.

"These weapons will be extremely useful even if Russian forces are able to seize cities like Kyiv, and Ukrainian forces shift to insurgent operations," Seth Jones, senior vice-president and director of the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told USA Today.

Jones said there is some risk that using US and other Western arms against Russian soldiers could escalate the war. He noted that the US provided weapons to insurgents in Afghanistan, who used them against Soviet troops after they invaded in 1979.

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia's Security Council, said Saturday that Moscow may respond to Western sanctions by opting out of the last nuclear arms deal with the US, cutting diplomatic ties with Western nations and freezing their assets, RT reported.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Saturday that providing the materiel support for Ukraine "is another clear signal that the United States stands with the people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereign, courageous, and proud nation".

On Friday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said, "we're very actively engaged in those efforts to help them better defend themselves through both lethal and non-lethal assistance".

"The airspace over Ukraine is contested; the Russians don't have superiority of it," Kirby said.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told House lawmakers that the US is considering ways to train Ukrainian soldiers remotely if Russia seizes Ukraine, Axios reported.

The European Union also will fund weapons for Ukraine, top EU officials said on Sunday.

"For the first time ever, the European Union will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment to a country that is under attack," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday.

"Another taboo has fallen. The taboo that the European Union was not providing arms in a war," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement before a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

In a major shift from Germany's longstanding policy of banning weapons exports to conflict zones, Berlin announced it will supply Ukraine with 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles.

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a turning point. It is our duty to do our best to support Ukraine in defending itself against Putin's invading army," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday.

"Germany has just announced the provision of anti-tank grenade launchers and Stinger missiles to Ukraine. Keep it up, Chancellor Olaf Scholz!" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted.

Estonia has been providing Ukraine with Stingers since January, for which it received US permission.

The Netherlands announced it will send anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, its defense ministry said. The Dutch government will provide 50 Panzerfaust-3 anti-tank weapons and 400 rockets, the ministry said in a letter to parliament.

The Netherlands is also jointly considering with Germany sending a Patriot air defense system to a NATO battle group in Slovakia, it said.

Kyiv had pleaded with Germany to send weapons.

"Damn it, it's finally time to help us," Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk told Reuters in an interview at the Ukrainian embassy. "We need air defense, and we need a no-fly zone."

Berlin's refusal to approve arms deliveries and a previous decision to send just 5,000 helmets sparked derision, with Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko calling it "a joke", Al Jazeera reported.

On Saturday, Berlin also changed its position about imposing restrictions on Russia's access to the SWIFT international payment systems, joining other Western nations in support of tougher sanctions.

"Now there is a lot of talk against the banking sector," Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said on Sunday. "Gas, oil, SWIFT. It's worse than war. This is pushing Russia into a third world war," he said, adding that a nuclear conflict could be the final outcome.

On Tuesday, Germany halted the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which was designed to transport Russian natural gas to Germany.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.

UNITED NATIONS - Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, on Monday regretted a US decision to expel 12 staff members of the Russian UN mission.

"I would like to inform you about yet another hostile step taken by the host country -- a step against the Russian mission. Just now, literally, an hour ago, we were informed that from the Russian mission, 12 of its staff are being expelled," said Nebenzia at the beginning of a Security Council meeting that he was chairing.

The decision is "yet another gross violation" of the UN Headquarters agreement signed by the United States as the host country, and of the Vienna Conventions, said Nebenzia.

"We keep being told about the need for diplomacy, diplomatic solutions. At the same time, our opportunities to conduct this kind of activity are being restricted," he said. "We deeply regret this decision. And we'll see how the events develop within the context of this decision."

US deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Richard Mills, said the 12 staff members of the Russian mission were ordered to leave because they engaged in "activities that were not in accordance with their responsibilities and obligations as diplomats."

"They have been given a request to depart this country so they do not harm the national security of the host country," said Mills.

Nebenzia said the US representative's response was not satisfactory.

The US decision came amid Russian military operations in Ukraine.

The Bank of Russia more than doubled interest rates to 20 percent as the Russian rouble dropped by as much as 29 percent in value following western sanctions.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announces a 100 billion euro ($112 billion) fund to modernize the country's military, following the decision to send weapons to Ukraine.