INTERNATIONAL: Western nations have warned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday , March 24. that his country will pay "ruinous" costs for invading Ukraine, during an unprecedented one-day trio of NATO, G7 and EU summits , attended by U.S. President Joe Biden.

The hectic day of summitry to maintain Western unity has kicked off at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where the transatlantic defence alliance's leaders will agree to ramp up military forces on Europe's eastern flank.

Alarmed by the prospect that Russia might escalate the war with its neighbour after a grinding month-long conflict, the 30 nations of NATO will also agree to send Kyiv equipment to defend against biological, chemical and nuclear attacks. The resolve to punish Moscow with massive sanctions will be underlined by an emergency meeting of the G7 advanced economies.

Then, with a summit of the 27-nation European Union, countries representing more than half of the world's gross domestic product have met in one day.