Putin orders the use of all means to protect the security of Russia and NATO confirms that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance "in the long run"

The Russian President said that it is important to use the experience gained in the confrontations with Ukraine to enhance the national security of his country, while NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance, but "in the long run."

Putin stressed the importance of responding to every threat to Russia's national security by all necessary means, as described, and called for fighting corruption in all Russian state institutions.

And the Russian President announced that Russia witnessed an increase in the volume of terrorist acts during the past year, pointing to Kiev's involvement in it, he said.

During a meeting of the Federal Security Service's Council of Leaders, he stressed that Moscow will respond to every threat to its national security, and will use all necessary means, as he put it.

Putin also asked the Federal Security Service (FSB) on Tuesday to intensify its activity in combating what he called the increase in espionage and sabotage activities by Ukraine and the West.

In a speech to officials, Putin said that the agency must stop "sabotage groups" entering Russia from Ukraine, as well as intensify efforts to protect infrastructure and prevent Western security services from reactivating what he called terrorist or extremist cells inside Russia.

"Western intelligence services have always been active in Russia, and now they have thrown additional personnel, technical resources, additional other resources on us. We must react to this," Putin said.

He directed the agency to prevent the illegal flow of weapons into Russia and to enhance security in four regions of Ukraine that Moscow had partially captured and declared part of its territory.

START Treaty

For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that China's plan to settle the crisis in Ukraine is in line with Moscow's approach, noting that the precise meanings of the proposal are important.

Peskov added in an interview with the Russian newspaper "Izvestia" that President Putin was and remains open to any contacts that would achieve Russia's goals in any way.

Peskov said that Russia will not resume participation in the START treaty with the United States until Washington listens to Moscow's position, as he put it.

The Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree suspending Russia's participation in the START treaty to reduce nuclear weapons.

The text of the decree stated that the Russian president alone takes the decision to resume the work of the treaty.

In Kiev, the head of the Ukrainian President's office, Andriy Yermak, said on his Telegram account that Ukraine plans to hold a global summit on the implementation of the Ukrainian peace formula, in which the largest possible number of countries from different continents will participate.

In a parallel context, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expected Ukraine to become a member of NATO, but in the long term.

Stoltenberg affirmed NATO's support for Ukraine, and added in a press conference with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in Helsinki that NATO has another mission, which is to prevent escalation and prevent it from turning into an all-out war between Russia and NATO.

Stoltenberg also said that Finland and Sweden joining the alliance will make it stronger, expressing his hope that this will happen as soon as possible, adding that he agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to hold a meeting next week to discuss the issue.

Advance towards Bakhmut

On the ground, the pro-Russian governor of Donetsk Province, Denis Pushilin, said that all roads leading to the city are under the fire control of Russian forces.

For his part, a military commander in the Wagner militia said that his forces had fully taken control of the Stopki neighborhood, northwest of Bakhmut, without losses.

Pictures of the Russian "Van" agency showed members of the Wagner militia in the "Stupki" neighborhood and the town of Yagodnoye, adjacent to the city of Bakhmut.

On the other hand, the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces acknowledged that the situation in the vicinity of Bakhmut is very tense.

He pointed out that Wagner militias are using their most prepared units to penetrate the Ukrainian defenses and besiege the city.

The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed that the Russian army is still focusing its attacks largely on the axes of Bakhmut, Liman, Avdiivka and Shakhtram in the Donbass region, and the Kobyansk axis east of Kharkiv.

Drones

On the other hand, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that Ukrainian marches attempted to attack targets in two Russian regions last night, while Russian media reported that a fire broke out in an oil facility in the city of Tawabsi on the Black Sea.

The pictures showed the two explosions, which the media said were two marches that caused the fire, according to eyewitnesses.

For its part, the Russian Emergency Management confirmed that it had monitored a march over the oil refinery and over the port, and that the fire in the vicinity of the refinery had nothing to do with the march attack.

The emergency department indicated that the fire spread over an area of ​​200 square meters and was brought under control without causing damage to the facility's fuel tanks.

The Ukrainian General Staff said that its forces repelled 60 Russian attacks on various Ukrainian fronts.

In a statement, the authority confirmed that its forces destroyed 11 "Shahid" (Iranian) drones during the past hour, and carried out four air raids on the areas where the Russian forces are stationed. They also bombed a control point, two assembly areas, and two locations of the Russian Air Defense Forces.