Russia's war on Ukraine latest: US pledges more weapons amid fierce fighting around Bakhmut

Reuters could not immediately verify those battlefied reports. DIPLOMACY * Any Chinese supply of lethal aid to Russia for the war in Ukraine would be a "historic mistake with profound implications", NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. * President Emmanuel Macron said earlier in Beijing it was not in China's interest to provide weapons to Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Poland on Wednesday, buoyed by a new announcement of U.S. military aid, as Russian troops pressed on with their long and costly battle to seize the eastern city of Bakhmut. BATTLEFIELD

* Zelenskiy said the situation in the Ukrainian eastern city of Bakhmut was really difficult and that the "corresponding decisions" would be taken if Kyiv's troops there risk being encircled by Russian forces. * Three people were killed and another six wounded in artillery attacks on the towns of Oleksievo-Druzhkivka and Velyka Novosilka in the Ukraine-controlled part of the Donetsk region, the regional authorities said on Telegram messaging app.

* A Ukrainian drone has crashed near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Russia's RIA news agency cited a Russian officer as saying, as the chief of the global nuclear watchdog was expected in Russia for talks on the plant's security. Reuters could not immediately verify those battlefied reports.

DIPLOMACY * Any Chinese supply of lethal aid to Russia for the war in Ukraine would be a "historic mistake with profound implications", NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

* President Emmanuel Macron said earlier in Beijing it was not in China's interest to provide weapons to Russia. China says it has no such plans and condemns Western arms supplies to Ukraine. * Zelenskiy said during a visit to neighbouring Poland that Ukraine wanted Poland to become a key partner in the vast reconstruction effort in his country after the war with Russia ends.

* Polish Agriculture Minister Henryk Kowalczyk said he would resign amid rising anger among farmers over the impact of Ukrainian grain imports on prices. * German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at a NATO summit in Vilnius in July should welcome Sweden to the alliance.

* Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he discussed Sweden's NATO bid and developments regarding Ankara's purchase of F-16 fighter jets with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Sweden needs to take further steps for Turkey to ratify its NATO membership bid, Cavusoglu said. * Russian President Vladimir Putin told the new U.S. and EU ambassadors in blunt language that their countries were responsible for a dramatic deterioration in relations since Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine last year.

RUSSIA * Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova complained that Western countries had not expressed concern over the killing of a military blogger with a bomb in St Petersburg on Sunday, which Russia has called an act of terrorism.

* Record high imports of crude oil from Russia in fiscal 2022-23 helped India's refiners boost exports of diesel and jet fuel to Europe as the continent shunned Russian products, preliminary ship-tracking data from Kpler and Vortexa showed. * Russia has started to make ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of diesel near African ports as it seeks transatlantic sales, according to traders and Refinitiv Eikon data.

* Russia demanded that Ukraine free a top Orthodox cleric placed under house arrest by a Kyiv court this month in connection with allegations he had glorified Russia's invasion and stoked religious divisions. RECENT IN-DEPTH STORIES

* Ukraine trains 40,000 storm brigade troops for counter-offensive * In Ukraine's Bucha, a 'wounded soul' aches one year after liberation from violent Russian occupation

* SPECIAL REPORT-Facial recognition is helping Putin curb dissent with the aid of U.S. tech (Compiled by Reuters editors)

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