China providing political support to Russia with 'blatant lies': NATO

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday accused that China is providing political support to Russia with 'blatant lies', AFP reported.

Meanwhile, NATO allies have agreed to provide 'additional support' to Ukraine against nuclear, chemical threats, chief Stoltenberg said.

NATO estimated on Wednesday that 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in four weeks of fighting in Ukraine, where the country's defenders have put up stiffer-than-expected resistance and denied Moscow the lightning victory it hoped for.

A senior NATO military official said the estimate was based on information from Ukrainian officials, what Russia has released — intentionally or not — and intelligence gathered from open sources. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by NATO.

When Russia unleashed its invasion Feb. 24 in Europe's biggest offensive since World War II and brandished the prospect of nuclear escalation if the West intervened, a swift toppling of Ukraine's democratically elected government seemed likely.

But with Wednesday marking four full weeks of fighting, Russia is bogged down in a grinding military campaign, with untold numbers of dead, no immediate end in sight, and its economy crippled by Western sanctions.

U.S. President Joe Biden and key allies are meeting in Brussels and Warsaw this week to discuss possible new punitive measures and more military aid to Ukraine.

As Biden left the White House on Wednesday for the flight to Europe, he warned there is a “real threat" Russia could use chemical weapons and said he will discuss that danger with the other leaders.

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