Ukraine news latest: UK may be about to take Russia conflict to next level – but key ally is wary of Moscow’s reaction

NATO hints at more heavy weapons for Ukraine

Kyiv can expect more deliveries of heavy weapons from Western countries soon, NATO said Sunday, as President Vladimir Putin praised his forces after their claimed capture of a Ukraine town.

Washington meanwhile condemned the missile on a tower block in the eastern city of Dnipro, as the death toll rose to 30 as rescue teams kept up the search for survivors.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine could expect more heavy weapons following Kyiv’s requests to its allies for the vehicles, artillery and missiles it says are key to defending itself.

“The recent pledges for heavy warfare equipment are important — and I expect more in the near future,” Stoltenberg told Germany’s Handelsblatt daily, ahead of a meeting this week of a group that coordinates arms supplies to Kyiv.

Days after Russia claimed to have taken Soledar in eastern Ukraine, a salt-mining outpost home to 10,000 before the conflict, Putin hailed it as a major success.

“There is a positive dynamic, everything is developing according to plans,” Putin said, in an interview broadcast Sunday. “I hope that our fighters will please us more than once again.”