Nato boosts forces on Eastern front after Ukraine claims chemical attack

Western leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday agreed to strengthen their forces in Eastern Europe, increase military aid to Ukraine and tighten their sanctions on Russia as Moscow’s assault on its neighbour entered its second month, with no signs of an end in sight.

In a display of unity at an unprecedented triple summit of Nato, the G7 and the European Union, the military alliance announced new battle groups to be stationed in four Eastern European countries.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also accused Russia of deploying phosphorus weapons, which spread a powder that ignites when in contact with oxygen and causes severe burns.

“This morning, by the way, phosphorus bombs were used. Russian phosphorus bombs. Adults were killed again and children were killed again,” he told Nato representatives via video-link.

Ukraine said its forces had destroyed the Russian landing ship the “Orsk” at the Russian-occupied port of Berdyansk on the Azov Sea.

Video footage, which Reuters confirmed was filmed from inside Berdyansk, showed a column of smoke rising from a blaze at a dock and the flash of an explosion. Russian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

As US President Joe Biden rallied allies on his first trip aboard since the war began, Washington announced a new $1-billion aid package for Ukraine. It said it would take in 100,000 refugees. 

The United States and Britain expanded their sanctions blacklists. Countries announced new packages of military and humanitarian aid and promises to take in refugees. The EU was due to announce steps to wean itself off Russian energy.

“We agreed to strengthen our deterrence and defence for the longer-term. We also agreed to give further support to Ukraine and to continue to impose costs on Russia,” Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after leaders gathered at Nato headquarters.

Still, those pledges stopped short of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s calls for a full boycott of Russian energy products and a no-fly zone over Ukraine, where thousands of people have been killed, millions become refugees, and cities pulverised since Russian leader Vladimir Putin unleashed his invasion on February 24.

UNICEF said on Thursday more than half of Ukraine’s children had now been driven from their homes.

In the besieged southern port of Mariupol, hundreds of thousands of people have been hiding in basements with no running water, food, medicine or power.

In a part of the city now captured by Russian troops, a patch of grass between charred hulks of blasted apartment buildings had become a makeshift graveyard, with freshly-dug mounds marked with plastic flowers and crosses made from broken window frames.

The thud of explosions could be heard in the distance when a Reuters team reached there on Wednesday.

Ukrainian officials accused Russia on Thursday of having forcibly deported 15,000 people from the city to Russia. Moscow denies this.

Zelenskyy to Nato: Give us just 1% of what you have

While thanking members of the Western military alliance for the defensive equipment provided so far, Zelenskyy appealed for offensive weapons. “You can give us one percent of all your planes. One percent of your tanks. One percent!”

Nato extends term  of Stoltenberg for one more year

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will remain in his role for an extra year to help steer the 30-nation military organisation through the security crisis sparked by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Stoltenberg tweeted on Thursday that he is “honoured” by the decision of Nato leaders to extend his term until September 30, 2023. “As we face the biggest security crisis in a generation, we stand united to keep our alliance strong and our people safe,” he said. 

Norges Bank’s interim governor, Ida Wolden Bache, was set to become Norway’s first permanent woman central bank chief after Stoltenberg withdrew.