In rare backing for Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday assured Vladimir Putin of his "strong support" in a telephone call, according to a Kremlin statement.

In the call initiated by Caracas, the Venezuelan leader also condemned "destabilizing actions of the United States and NATO" and spoke out against a Western campaign of "lies and disinformation," it said.

Dozens of people have been killed and nearly 680,000 have fled Ukraine since Putin ordered his troops into the country last week after failing to get guarantees that NATO will not expand its military alliance eastward.

In the call with Maduro, Putin insisted the objectives of the military assault were to "protect the civilian population" of the Donbass separatist region and to get Kiev to recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country is committing 100 billion euros to a special fund for its armed forces—the latest in a series of major shifts in German defense and security policy this weekend in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"It's clear we need to invest significantly more in the security of our country, in order to protect our freedom and our democracy," Scholz told a special session of the Bundestag in Berlin Sunday morning, according to The Associated Press.

As well as announcing the country would raise its defense spending above two percent of GDP, Scholz said Germany will build two liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and up its natural gas reserves to cut its dependence on Russian gas after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"We will do more to ensure secure energy supply for our country," he told lawmakers. "We must change course to overcome our dependence on imports from individual energy suppliers."

Russia’s credit rating was cut to junk by S&P Global Ratings, part of a wide review by all major rating agencies to grade the soundness of the gas-exporting giant’s financial health after the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Moody’s Investors Service, meanwhile, said late Friday it has placed Russia’s and Ukraine’s credit ratings on review for possible downgrades, again to speculative, or junk, ratings for Russia.

S&P joined Fitch Ratings in downgrading Ukraine.

The war, which entered its third day Saturday as Russian troops reportedly pushed into the capital Kyiv, has prompted the U.S. and allies to impose sanctions on Russia. President Joe Biden also sanctioned Vladimir Putin’s own finances and those of several key aides.