NATO chief warns Putin not to provoke alliance

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has warned Vladimir Putin against provoking the alliance, saying NATO would defend its territory, democracy and way of life.

"Do not play games with us. We will never attack anyone. We will only defend our way of life, our democracy and our territory," Rutte said at the NATO summit in Ankara, addressing Putin.

The NATO chief said Russia's massive missile strikes on Ukrainian cities were a sign of Putin's desperation over the lack of success on the battlefield.

"I think this once again shows how desperate Putin is because the Ukrainians are fighting well on the battlefield," Rutte said.

He said Ukraine had achieved significant successes, including strikes that had damaged Russia's economy, energy infrastructure and defence industrial capacity deep inside Russian territory.

Rutte said Russian forces were no longer capable of making major breakthroughs on the front as they had several months earlier.

"The situation now resembles a stalemate. What happened last night was therefore an indiscriminate attack on civilians, infrastructure and Ukrainian cities. People are dying, but Russia will never win the war this way," Rutte said.