Ukrainian forces 'shoot down four Russian helicopters in 18 minutes'

Toady's top stories included:

• Ukrainian forces 'shoot down four Russian helicopters in 18 minutes'
• Ukrainians cut electrical use by 10 percent, make gains in occupied Kherson
• Russian nuclear strike would almost certainly trigger a 'physical response' from Nato
• Putin and Erdogan peace talks tomorrow will be 'very interesting', says Kremlin
• Market blast kills at least seven in Donetsk town
• 'Ball's in the EU's court' over resuming gas supplies says Putin
• Canada announces £30m military aid package for Ukraine
• Russia has used up a significant proportion of its precision-guided ammunition, says Nato
• The Netherlands will deliver £13.19m worth of air defence missiles to Ukraine 
• Kremlin warns Japan over firing Himars near its borders
• Woman tries to set fire to sanctioned bank branch in St Petersburg
• Russian grandmother who left note on Putin's parents' grave arrested
• Finnish pharmacies run out of anti-nuclear radiation tablets

Ukraine today claimed it had gained more territory from Russia in the south and welcomed the delivery of Western air defences. Kyiv said they would herald a "new era" after mass strikes by Moscow.

Many Finnish pharmacies have run out of iodine tablets, a day after the Nordic country's health ministry recommended that households buy a single dose in a case of a radiation emergency amid increasing fears of a nuclear event due to Russia's war in Ukraine.

"An accident at a nuclear power plant could release radioactive iodine into the environment, which could build up in the thyroid gland," the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health said on Tuesday.

Pharmacies in many locations in Finland have reported they had run out of iodine tablets as citizens rushed to purchase the medicine. Drug wholesale also said their were stockpiles emptied out.

The ministry said the iodine tablet recommendation is limited to those aged three to 40 because of the potential risks that radiation exposure poses to that age group.

Canada will send £9.8m in winter clothing, £9.9m in howitzer ammunition and £10m of high-tech drone cameras and satellite communication services to Ukraine in a new military aid package announced by its defence minister Anita Anand today.

The Kremlin has warned Japan over the "inevitability of adequate response measures" after it fired Himars rockets near its far eastern borders in joint military exercises with the US.

"We consider the military exercises that took place as a challenge to ensuring the security of the Far Eastern region of our country and insist on the immediate cessation of such actions," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The Japanese side was also warned about the inevitability of adequate response measures in order to block military threats to Russia," it added, without elaborating.

Japanese-Russian relations have worsened in recent weeks, with Russia expelling a Japanese consul for alleged espionage and Tokyo responding in kind. 

A woman has been arrested after allegedly trying to set fire to a sanctioned Russian bank in an apparent protest against the war in Ukraine, it has been claimed.

 The top US general has condemned indiscriminate Russian missile strikes on Ukraine that killed civilians, suggesting they met the definition of war crimes under the international rules of war.

"Russia has deliberately struck civilian infrastructure with the purpose of harming civilians," Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news briefing at Nato headquarters in Brussels.

"They have targeted the elderly, the women, and the children of Ukraine. Indiscriminate and deliberate attacks on civilian targets is a war crime in the international rules of war."

A Russian grandmother faces five years in jail for allegedly leaving a note on Putin's parents' grave saying she wished he would die ahead of his 70th birthday, The Moscow Times reports.

Irina Tsybaneva, 60, was arrested at her home in St Petersburg on Monday.

St Petersburg judiciary said in a statement: "She left a note with an insulting inscription addressed to the President of the Russian Federation, thus desecrating a burial place."

She will be detained by police until Friday and could now face up to five years in prison if she is found guilty.

The European Commission has not yet decided if it will include a price cap on gas used in power generation in a package of energy measures it will propose next week, the bloc's energy policy chief said.

"We will see over the weekend how we can proceed with capping the gas for power generation - if this is at that stage that we can say that there is a broad majority of member states supporting this measure," EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson told a news conference after a meeting of EU energy ministers in Prague.

Ukraine's PM Denys Shmyhal has thanked members of the public for cutting their electricity consumption by 10 per cent since Russia's missile strikes hit critical energy infrastructure across the country.

Today he told citizens it was a "necessity" that the minimum indoor temperature for homes should be 16C during the winter - 2C colder than the the World Health Organisation's standard for warmth for healthy people who are appropriately dressed.

The PM had urged his citizens and businesses to cut power consumption during the peak hours of 5pm to 10pm across Ukraine by 25 per cent to stabilise the power system.

In a statement, he said: "We are grateful to all Ukrainians who deliberately reduced electricity consumption yesterday and the night before yesterday. The total saving was 10 per cent. We also thank the heads of regions, heads of communities, who took a responsible approach and cut power consumption in communities.

"The minimum permissible indoor temperature this winter will be 16 degrees Celsius, while the average temperature will be 18 degrees. This is a necessity and this is our contribution to the victory. After all, it depends on each of us how we will get through this winter.”

The Biden administration is considering putting in place a complete ban on Russian aluminium in response to Russia's military escalation in Ukraine, Bloomberg reports.

A Russian nuclear strike would change the course of the conflict and almost certainly trigger a "physical response" from Ukraine allies and potentially from Nato, a senior official for the Western alliance has said.

Any use of nuclear weapons by Moscow would have "unprecedented consequences" for Russia, the official warned.

It would "almost certainly be drawing a physical response from many allies, and potentially from NATO itself", he said.

The official added that Moscow was using its nuclear threats mainly to deter NATO and other countries from directly entering its war on Ukraine. 

Ukraine's conflict with Russia is "as much our war as it is theirs", the UK's minister for defence procurement has said.

Speaking on a visit to His Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde in Scotland to meet with Navy personnel, Alec Shelbrooke said: "This is our war as much as it is Ukraine's war.

"We are seeing that in terms of fuel prices, in terms of food, in terms of fertilisers, but fundamentally in terms of freedom and democracy.

"It won't end if we were to withdraw from Ukraine.

"That would embolden Russia, it would embolden Putin, it would be a direct threat to Nato, which we are absolutely crystal clear that any invasion of Nato territory triggers Article 5.

"Fundamentally, this is a fight against a fascist dictatorship."

Putin and Erdogan's talks in Kazakhstan tomorrow are shaping up to be "very interesting" with the Turkish president expected to raise ideas for peace in Ukraine, a Kremlin aide has said.

Yuri Ushakov told reporters: "Now many say that the Turks are ready to come up with other initiatives in the context of the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.

"There are reports in the press that the Turkish side is putting forward specific considerations in this regard, I do not exclude that Erdogan will actively touch on this topic during the Astana contact. So a very interesting and, I hope, useful discussion awaits us." 

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Kazakhstan, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.

"This will be the first face-to-face meeting after the outbreak of the pandemic, so it is very important," Ushakov said.

"The last time we met with the Emir was in Dushanbe in 2019."

"In addition to politics and the trade and economic sphere, I would single out cooperation in the energy market, cooperation between Russia and Qatar within the framework of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. This will also be discussed between our leaders," he said.

Russia has depleted a significant proportion of its precision-guided ammunition in its invasion of Ukraine and its industry cannot produce all kinds of ammunition and weapon systems due to Western sanctions, a senior NATO official has said.

The official said he did not know how long it would take for Russia to mobilise the 300,000 troops Moscow is aiming for, and suggested it could take a few months. 

There has been no movement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Moscow's detention of American basketball player Brittney Griner, Joe Biden has told CNN.

She was jailed on drugs charges for nine years after cartridges containing less than a gram of hashish oil were found in her luggage.

The US President said he would meet with Putin at the G20 meeting next month if the Russian leader wanted to discuss the detained WNBA star, but that he generally had no intention of meeting with Putin although it would depend on the circumstances. 

The Netherlands will deliver £13.19m worth of air defence missiles to Ukraine in reaction to Russian air raids.

Defence minister Kasja Ollongren said: “These attacks... can only be met with unrelenting support for Ukraine and its people.”

Ukraine received the first Iris-T defence system from Germany, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said late on Tuesday.

He tweeted: "IRIS-Ts from (Germany) are already here. (American) NASAMS are coming. This is only the beginning. And we need more.

"There is a moral imperative to protect the sky over (Ukraine) in order to save our people."

Vladimir Putin called Kyiv forces behind the Crimea Bridge blast "terrorists" instead of "Nazis" to justify his revenge attacks on Ukraine's cities and infrastructure, appeasing hardliners in his party and keeping other states from turning against the Kremlin, a former British ambassador for Ukraine has said.

In a piece for the Guardian, Simon Smith, chair of the steering committee of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House, said the "significant" label was Putin "signaling that he is paying no heed to any waning commitment to the war among the population at large, following his mobilisation decision. 

"And that he’s listening more closely to those who have been vocally critical of the army’s poor performance, and who have called for a tougher, (even) more ruthless offensive approach."

The term would also remind those who dissent over Putin's mobilisation orders of the brutal treatment "ethnic" communities had suffered at the hands of the Kremlin after being labelled terrorists, such as in Chechnya.

And for those who have not condemned Russia's attacks on Ukraine, "Putin’s hope is that those with no time to read beyond the 'terrorist' label will lazily reassure themselves that there are, after all, bad lots on both sides, and that it’s OK to continue to sit on the fence," he added.

"Perhaps we’ll see the 'terrorist' label emerge as part of a new Putinist rhetorical strategy, to replace the 'Nazi' label he ludicrously attached to Ukraine’s administration in his 'justification' of the 2022 invasion."

Vladimir Putin has said "the ball was in the EU's court" to resume gas deliveries after the Nord Stream pipelines connecting Russia to Europe were damaged by explosions.

"If they want to, then the taps can be turned on and that's it," he said.

Moscow is "ready to start deliveries" through parts of the pipeline not affected by the leaks, he added as he blamed the West for disruptions on the market at an energy forum in Moscow.

The Russian leader also said the leaks were the result of "international terrorism" that would benefit the United States, Poland and Ukraine.

The UN's nuclear watchdog chief has repeated his call for a protection zone around Zaporizhzhia plant as he confirmed power had been restored to the site following shelling damage to a relatively far-off sub-station.

International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Mariano Grossi tweeted: "UPDATE—I've been informed by our team on site that external power to Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is restored.

"Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant's operator says this morning's outage was caused by shelling damage to a far off sub-station, highlighting how precarious the situation is. We need a protection zone ASAP."

Repairs to damaged Nord Stream pipelines would take at least a year, Alexei Miller, head of Russian state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom, said, adding that Russia had still not been granted access to the area of damage.

Speaking at the Russian Energy Week conference in Moscow, Miller also echoed a call made earlier on Wednesday by Russian President Vladimir Putin for a European gas hub in Turkey.

He added that gas in Germany's underground storage will be enough for between two and two-and-a-half months, warning Europe there was "no guarantee" that it would survive winter based on its current gas storage capacity.

The Kremlin has denied reports Vladimir Putin spoke to Elon Musk and told him that he was "prepared to negotiate" over the war.

Ian Bremmer said the Tesla CEO had told him so in a mailout sent to Eurasia Group subscribers, before sharing a Twitter poll on a proposed peace plan that would see Ukraine cede territory to Russia.

Asked if Musk had spoken to Putin prior to publishing the Twitter poll, the Kremlin’s spokesman said, "no, this is not true", adding that the pair had communicated over the phone “about a year and a half ago”.

In a reply to a tweet, Musk said he had spoken to the Russian leader “only once and that was about 18 months ago” and the conversation was about space.

The death toll of a Russian strike on a crowded market in the town of Avdiivka in eastern Donetsk region has risen to nine.

Vitalii Barabash, the head of its military administration, said: "Today is another black day for our Avdiivka. In the morning, the Russian evil spirits once again brought death to our land, sneakily, as always, shelling the central market with tanks and MLR systems during rush hour. Seven residents of Avdiivka were killed and nine were wounded."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the issue of renewable energy should not be "politicised" and accused the European Union of underinvesting in oil and gas.

In a speech at an energy forum in Russia, Putin said Russia had nothing to do with higher energy prices in Europe and accused the EU of promoting green energy to the detriment of oil and gas development.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Ukraine's special services were behind an attack that damaged the Crimean Bridge last Saturday.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said earlier it had detained five Russians and three citizens of Ukraine over the blast on the bridge, which Putin has called an act of terror.

Ukraine’s ministry of reintegration has confirmed that 37 Ukrainian children who were illegally deported to Russia have returned home.

The children had been deported from the Russian-occupied territory of Kharkiv region in August.

Western leaders' rhetoric over the potential use of nuclear weapons is "provocative", the Kremlin has said.

A spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a briefing: "We express our daily regret that Western heads of state – the US as well as European – engage in nuclear rhetoric every day.

"We consider this a pernicious and provocative practice. Russia does not want to take part in these exercises and does not take part in them."

The G7 warned of “severe consequences” if Russia uses nuclear weapons following a call with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy yesterday.

Joe Biden previously warned the world is its closest point to a nuclear war since the Cuban missile crisis.

Vladimir Putin said in a video address that he was "not bluffing" about using nuclear weapons to defend his country's territories.

Ian Bremmer has insisted Elon Musk and Vladimir did speak directly about Ukraine as reported in his weekly geopolitics update for Eurasia Group.

He said on Twitter: "Elon Musk told me he had spoken with Putin and the Kremlin directly about Ukraine. He also told me what the Kremlin’s red lines were.

"I have been writing my weekly newsletter on geopolitics for 24 years. I write honestly without fear or favour and this week’s update was no different.

"I’ve long admired musk as a unique and world-changing entrepreneur, which i've said publicly. he's not a geopolitics expert."

The Tesla chief, who denied he'd spoken to Putin except about space 18 months ago,  responded: "Nobody should trust Bremmer."

At least seven people were killed and eight injured in a Russian strike on a crowded market in the town of Avdiivka on Wednesday, the governor of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region said.

"The Russians struck the central market where many people were at that time," Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a statement, adding that there was "no military logic" for such an attack.

His statement was accompanied by pictures of dead bodies and damaged market stalls. Their authenticity has not been confirmed.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday there was no "new wave" of men being drafted into the army, despite some regional officials reporting they were stepping up mobilisation efforts this week.

"There is no new wave," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, telling reporters to check with individual governors to see what they meant.

The defence ministry said more than 200,000 were drafted in the first weeks after President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilisation of reservists to fight in Ukraine.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu earlier suggested 300,000 men with previous military experience would be called up to bolster Russia's war efforts in Ukraine, although Putin's decree did not disclose a number.

Officials from two separate regions said this week they had received new orders to mobilise troops, raising fears a second wave of men could be called up to serve in the army.

Germany's oil supply is secure and the Schwedt and Leuna refineries are still receiving oil via the Druzhba pipeline Freundschaft 1 via Poland, the German economy ministry says.

A spokesman added that the ministry was watching the situation closely and both refineries had been increasing their on-site stocks in recent weeks as a precautionary measure.

Poland said on Wednesday a leak found in one of the Druzhba pipelines bringing oil from Russia was most likely caused by an accident.

The Russian defence ministry has said that it expects to increase the number of joint military drills with held with countries of the former USSR countries in 2023, Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported.

On September 29, Vladimir Putin has blamed the war in Ukraine on the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Russian President made the comments to intelligence chiefs of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

He told the televised meeting: "It is enough to look at what is happening now between Russia and Ukraine and what is happening on the borders of some other CIS countries.

"All this, of course, is the result of the collapse of the Soviet Union."The nine members states that make up the CIS are Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Putin also claimed the West stood ready to provoke "colour revolutions" and a "bloodbath" in any country, without naming a specific country.

Nato will this week discuss air defence as its "top priority" for helping Ukraine after Kyiv urged bolstered protection against Russia's missile barrages.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said just three words when asked what he hoped for from a meeting with Kyiv's supporters at Nato headquarters in Brussels: "Air defence systems."

The western alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg said discussions would address "how to ramp up support for Ukraine and the top priority will be more air defence" after the Russian missile strikes this week.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that Ukraine's western backers were looking to provide Kyiv with more air defences to protect against Russia's "indiscriminate" missile attacks across the country.

"We will address how to ramp up support for Ukraine and the top priority will be more air defence for Ukraine," Stoltenberg said at the start of a meeting by Ukraine's allies on arms supplies to Kyiv.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday it hoped the Group of Seven (G7) would hold "the Kyiv regime" accountable for the crimes it has committed.

The G7 nations pledged on Tuesday to continue providing financial, humanitarian, military, diplomatic and legal support to Ukraine, adding in a statement after a leaders' call that any use by Russia of nuclear weapons would be met with severe consequences. 

The recently restored power line supplying the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been cut again, forcing the plant to switch to emergency diesel generators, the UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday.

"Our team at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant informed me this morning that the plant has lost all of its external power for the 2nd time in five days," Grossi said on Twitter, renewing his call for a protection zone around the plant to prevent shelling near the facility.

Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned Russia's "relentless bombings" of Ukrainian cities and appealed to "those who have the fate of the war in their hands" to stop.

At least 26 people have been killed across the country in Moscow's biggest aerial offensive since the start of its invasion on Feb. 24.

The head of UN's nuclear watchdog says Ukrainian nuclear plant surrounded by Russian troops has lost external power

Polish operator PERN has detected a leak in one pipeline in the Druzhba system that carries oil from Russia to Europe, it said on Wednesday, an event that will add to concerns about Europe's energy security after the Nord Stream gas leak.

The discovery of the leak, which PERN said it found on Tuesday evening, comes as Europe faces a severe energy crisis in the aftermath of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine which has cut supplies of gas in a continuing stand-off.

PERN said at this point the causes of the leak are unknown. It was detected in a section of the pipe around 70 kilometres from the central Polish city of Plock.

The Druzhba oil pipeline, whose name means "friendship" in Russian, is one of the world's largest, supplying Russian oil to much of central Europe including Germany, Poland, Belarus, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Ukraine has received the first Iris-T defence system from Germany, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has said.

"IRIS-Ts from (Germany) are already here. (American) NASAMS are coming. This is only the beginning. And we need more," Reznikov tweeted late on Tuesday. "There is a moral imperative to protect the sky over (Ukraine) in order to save our people."

Germany had promised delivery of the first Iris-T missile shield "in the coming days" after Russia unleashed deadly attacks across Ukraine on Monday, killing at least 19 people and wounding more than 100, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The Ukrainian defence ministry said Monday that Russia had fired 83 missiles at Ukraine, of which its air defences shot down 52, among which were 43 cruise missiles.

Russia has detained eight suspects over the deadly explosion on the bridge linking annexed Crimea to Russia, the FSB security service said in a statement quoted by news agencies on Wednesday.

The "terrorist attack" was organised by Ukrainian secret services, the statement said. The explosives were stored in plastic film rolls that left the Ukrainian port of Odessa in August and transited through Bulgaria, Georgia and Armenia before entering Russia, it said.

Joe Biden believes Vladimir Putin is a “rational actor” who has “totally miscalculated” the invasion of Ukraine and the suppression of its people.

The US president told CNN Tonight with Jake Tapper that Putin wrongly believed that Ukrainians would submit to Russian forces and ridiculed his claims that the Eastern European country belongs to the Kremlin.

While Mr Biden said he believed Putin was rational, he said his aims in Ukraine and claims to Kyiv's territory were fanciful.

Mr Biden said: “I think he is a rational actor who has miscalculated significantly.

“You listen to what he says. If you listen to the speech he made after when that decision was being made, he talked about the whole idea of – he was needed to be the leader of Russia that united all of Russian speakers.

“I mean, it’s just... I just think it’s irrational.”

Mr Biden added: “I think he thought he was going to be welcomed with open arms, that this was the home of Mother Russia in Kyiv, and that where he was going to be welcomed, and I think he just totally miscalculated.”

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng said: "Countries around the world are facing challenges right now, particularly as a result of high energy prices driven by Putin's barbaric action in Ukraine.

"That is why this Government acted quickly to put in place a comprehensive plan to protect families and businesses from soaring energy bills this winter.

"Our growth plan will address the challenges that we face with ambitious supply-side reforms and tax cuts, which will grow our economy, create more well-paid skilled jobs and, in turn, raise living standards for everyone."

Desperate to avoid military call-up to fight in Ukraine, more than 20 Russians have sailed in yachts from North Pacific ports to South Korea, but most have been refused entry, according to a media report.

South Korean broadcaster KBS reported that at least 21 Russians had arrived aboard yachts at ports in the south of the country, but only two had been granted entry, while others were refused as authorities deemed their purpose "ambiguous".

A yacht with five Russian men aboard departed on Tuesday from the South Korean island of Ulleung, having arrived there on Sept. 30 after sailing from the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, a coast guard official told Reuters on Wednesday.

The official said the yacht was "taking cover from bad weather" and the people aboard had received food and other aid, but he declined to specify why they were not granted entry, referring immigration-related queries to the justice ministry.

KBS reported that three yachts had docked in the south-eastern port city of Pohang over the past several days, mostly carrying Russian men in their 20-30s.

One of the yachts had nine Russian men and one woman aboard, while a smaller vessel had four men aboard, it said.

China is looking at the experience of the war in Ukraine to develop "hybrid warfare" strategies against Taiwan including using drones and psychological pressure, a senior Taiwanese security official said on Wednesday.

Taiwan has been carefully studying the lessons of the Ukraine war to inform how it may react should China, which views the democratically ruled island as its own territory, ever makes good on threats to use force to enforce its sovereignty claim.

China mounted military exercises around Taiwan in August to express its anger at a visit to Taipei by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and it has maintained its military activities since, though at a scaled-back pace.

Speaking in parliament, Taiwan's National Security Bureau Director-General Chen Ming-tong said China was also paying attention to what was happening in Ukraine.

"This year, the communist military has borrowed from the experience of the Russia-Ukraine war to develop 'hybrid warfare' against Taiwan and strengthen its combat training and preparation against strong enemies," he told lawmakers.

Vladimir Putin said the United Arab Emirates could play a “significant” role in efforts to reach a resolution in his war in Ukraine as he held talks with the Gulf nation’s ruler.

“I am aware of your concerns about how the situation is developing in general and of your wish to help with resolving all controversial issues, including the crisis that’s happening now,” the Russian president said at the start of their meeting on Tuesday in St Petersburg.

“I’d like to point out that it’s indeed a substantial factor that allows us to use your influence for moving toward resolving the situation.”

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said that he and Putin had agreed on “the importance of engaging in dialogue to reduce tensions and arrive at a diplomatic solution”, in comments on Twitter after the talks.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has urged wealthy Western nations to help Kyiv create an "air shield" after a rash of deadly Russian aerial attacks.

Mr Zelensky, who told the G7 club of rich nations "millions of people would be grateful" for help fending off attacks from the sky, warned Russia "still has room for further escalation" after Monday's bloody missile salvoes across Ukraine.

Joe Biden pledged on Tuesday that "there will be consequences" for US relations with Saudi Arabia after Opec announced last week that it would cut oil production despite White House objections.

Mr Biden's announcement came a day after powerful Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the US must immediately freeze all cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including arms sales.

The US president, in an interview on CNN, would not discuss what options he was considering.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said a policy review would be conducted but gave no timeline for action or information. The US will be watching the situation closely "over the coming weeks and months," she said.

Mr Biden denied a suggestion by CNN host Jake Tapper that the US had been "played" by Saudi Arabia after Mr Biden visited Jeddah in July and was photographed fist-bumping Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Elon Musk is at the centre of claims that Vladimir Putin told him he would use nuclear weapons if Ukraine tried to reclaim Crimea, Josie Ensor writes.

The billionaire SpaceX founder denied reports that he had spoken with the Russian president before publishing a “peace plan” on Twitter that heavily favoured Russian demands.

Putin is said to have told Mr Musk that he was “prepared to negotiate” with Ukraine if the Crimean peninsula - annexed by Moscow in 2014 - remains in Russian hands and Ukraine “accepts a formal status of neutrality”.

"The alternative being major escalation. And further, if Zelensky invaded Crimea, Russia would retaliate with a nuclear strike on Ukraine. Elon said everything needed to be done to avoid that outcome," reported Mr Bremmer.

The 51-year-old South African, who has American citizenship, denied the reports, saying he had only spoken to the Russian leader once, 18 months ago, about space.

Read more: Putin ‘told Elon Musk he would use nuclear weapons if Ukraine tried to retake Crimea’

Joe Biden left the door open to diplomacy with Moscow to end the invasion of Ukraine, refusing to rule out talks with Vladimir Putin at the meeting of G20 nations in Bali in November.

"Look, I have no intention of meeting with him," Mr Biden told CNN.

"But for example, if he came to me at the G20 and said I want to talk about the release of (detained basketball star) Brittney Griner, I'd meet with him.

"I mean, it would depend."

President Biden told CNN during an interview broadcast on Tuesday that he did not think Vladimir Putin would use a tactical nuclear weapon in the war with Ukraine.

Mr Biden, asked by CNN anchor Jake Tapper how realistic he believed it would be for the Russian leader to use a tactical nuclear weapon, responded: "Well, I don’t think he will." 

The US president refused to discuss possible red lines for the White House should Putin escalate his attack on Ukraine with nuclear weapons:

Russian sabotage on Western targets could be grounds for triggering Nato’s Article 5, the alliance’s secretary-general warned on Tuesday, amid suspicions that Moscow planted explosives on underwater gas pipelines, James Crisp, Danielle Sheridan and Dominic Nicholls write.

“Any deliberate attack against Allies’ critical infrastructure would be met with a united and determined response,” Jens Stoltenberg said before Wednesday's meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels.

At a virtual meeting on Tuesday, the G7 said it was “deeply troubled” by the Sept 26 underwater explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines, which link Russia and Germany and lie on the bed of the Baltic Sea.

Mr Stoltenberg said Nato allies had stepped up security around possible targets after the North German rail network was downed for three hours after communication cables were cut on Saturday.

Read more: Nato warns Russian sabotage on Western targets 'could trigger Article 5'

Volodymyr Zelensky said that he expects a positive response on Wednesday from Western allies in Brussels to his requests for a rapid increase in military aid as the country's cities faced more Russian missile strikes.

After intense attacks, Mr Zelensky appealed to the leaders of the G7 nations on Tuesday for more air defence capabilities as the group vowed to support Kyiv for "as long as it takes".

A US-led coalition of 50 countries known as the Ukraine Defence Contact Group will meet in Brussels on Wednesday on the sidelines of a Nato defence ministers meeting.

"I am anticipating from our partners progress on matters of anti-aircraft and anti-missile defences and agreements on new supplies of different weapons and ammunition vital for us," Mr Zelensky said in an evening address.

• Elon Musk is at the centre of claims that Vladimir Putin told him he would use nuclear weapons if Ukraine tried to reclaim Crimea

• Russian sabotage on Western targets could be grounds for triggering Nato’s Article 5, the alliance’s secretary-general warned on Tuesday, amid suspicions that Moscow planted explosives on underwater gas pipelines

• The UK and its G7 allies accused Vladimir Putin of war crimes and vowed to hold him “to account” on Tuesday, after Russia launched a second day of missile strikes on civilian areas in Ukraine

• GCHQ director Sir Jeremy Fleming, the UK’s spy chief, warned there were “no guarantees” the West might see a Russian nuclear attack coming

• Volodymr Zelensky urged G7 leaders to fund an air defence system for Ukraine to protect it from further missile strikes

• Scores of Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones launched into Ukraine by Russia have been gunned down by the country’s air defence systems, in a further sign of Vladimir Putin's weakening war machine

• The oligarch who controls the notorious Wagner Group of mercenaries on Tuesday challenged Russian lawmakers to fund their own private armies to fight in Ukraine - or head to the frontlines themselves

• A top Ukrainian children’s cancer surgeon was killed after dropping off her five-year-old son at nursery as Russian missiles rained down on Kyiv, it emerged on Tuesday