Putin has made a ‘big mistake,’ NATO says; Ukraine appears to be retaking ground

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that President Putin had made a big mistake.

Holly Ellyatt.

As leaders from the world's most advanced nations prepare to meet on Thursday, the war in Ukraine is top of the agenda.

An extraordinary NATO summit will take place in Brussels, as well as meetings of EU leaders and the Group of Seven.

The NATO summit is expected to be addressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via videolink.

NATO is expected to commit to major increases in the number of troops it has along its eastern flank, according to the alliance's Secretary General. Humanitarian assistance for Ukraine is expected to be on the agenda.

President Biden will meet his EU counterparts at a European Council session and discuss possible additional sanctions on Russia.

Holly Ellyatt.

A Ukranian armored vehicle drives along a road in the Ukranian capital.

A person named Fadel Senna is pictured.

A senior U.S. Defense official said that Russian forces are about 10 to 12 miles away from the city center.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details from the Pentagon's ongoing assessment of the war, said that Russians have been largely stopped outside of Kyiv for weeks now.

The official said that they are starting to see that Russian forces are establishing defensive positions.

The official said that Russian troops are not trying to advance right now.

Macias.

A residential building destroyed by Russian shelling is shown in an image. There is fighting this week near the town.

Lightrocket and Sopa images are from the same source.

The British Defence Ministry said Wednesday night that the Ukrainians were retaking lost ground in the vicinity of the capital, but the reports from the area were different.

The ministry said in an intelligence update that Ukrainians are facing a lot of problems because of the long-stalled advance by Russian troops.

According to the ministry, Ukrainian forces probably took back the towns of Moschun and Makariv.

Moschun is close to the capital and due north.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian government claimed to have regained control of Makariv. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Ukrainian soldiers were in the town, but it was still being hit by Russian shelling.

There is a chance that Ukrainian forces will encircle Russian units in Irpin and Bucha.

CNBC was unable to corroborate the ministry's claims. The situation on the ground in Ukranian is often not known.

The Defence Ministry said that it was likely that successful counter attacks by Ukraine would disrupt the ability of Russian forces to reorganised.

Ted Kemp.

The US embassy building in Moscow has a Russian flag next to it.

Alexander Nemenov is pictured.

The State Department said that the Kremlin told them that more American diplomats would be ordered to leave Russia.

The US Embassy in Moscow received a list of diplomats who were declared persona non grata by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This is Russia's latest step in our relationship. The Russian government should stop expelling U.S. diplomats and staff. It is important that our countries have diplomatic personnel in place to facilitate communication between our governments.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the U.S. Ambassador to Moscow that relations between Washington and Moscow were at an all time low.

Biden called Putin a war criminal for his attacks on Ukraine. It was the first time that Biden had said that about the Russian leader.

Macias.

The Prime Minister of Britain, Boris Johnson, and the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, held a joint news conference in Warsaw, Poland.

Slawomir Kaminsk.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce a major new arms package for Ukraine at the NATO and G7 leaders meetings on Thursday.

Ukranian will get 6,000 missiles, including anti-tank and high explosives, as well as $33 million or 25 million in financial backing from the UK.

This more than doubles the defensive lethal aid provided to date to more than 10,000 missiles and comes on top of the UK's commitment to humanitarian and economic aid for the crisis.

More than 4,000 anti-tank weapons have been sent to the Ukrainian armed forces by the UK.

Johnson is committing more than 4 million dollars to the World Service in order to fight Russian misinformation. The International Criminal Court is investigating war crimes.

Macias.