Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke on the phone for an hour Wednesday, and Xi pressed his position as a neutral peacemaker in the Russian-Ukrainian war that has dragged into a second year with no end in sight.
Xi appealed for negotiations, warning “there is no winner in a nuclear war,” Chinese state media reported, although Russia has dismissed claims it would resort to nuclear weapons and Ukraine no longer has them. Xi’s government will send a representative to Ukraine for talks about a possible political settlement, according to the report.
Zelenskyy provided an upbeat description of the call on social media: “I had a long and meaningful phone call with President Xi Jinping. I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations.”
White House spokesman John Kirby called the direct communication between Xi and Zelenskyy “a good thing.” The Biden administration, he said, has been stressing the importance of China getting the Ukrainian perspective.
“Now, whether that’s going to lead to some sort of meaningful peace movement or plan or proposal, I just don’t think we know that right now,” Kirby told reporters.
China has claimed neutrality in the war, refusing to criticize Russia for the invasion and declining to participate in Western sanctions. Beijing also has denied speculation that it would supply President Vladimir Putin with much-needed weaponry and ammunition.
Developments:
►Fighting on the outskirts of Bakhmut has intensified in recent days as Ukraine seeks to maintain control of a primary supply route, the British Defense Ministry said in its most recent assessment of the war.
►Explosions at Russian military facilities in occupied Crimea do not violate the Black Sea grain deal, Ukraine officials said. The Russian Ministry of Defense accused Ukraine of violating the agreement by attacking Russia’s fleet in Sevastopol.
►Italian journalist Corrado Zunino was injured and his interpreter Bogdan Bitik killed in the southern city of Kherson. Zunino told the newspaper La Repubblica, for which he was a correspondent, he suspected they were attacked by Russian snipers.
CHINA AFFIRMS UKRAINE SOVEREIGNITY:China disavows diplomat’s claim after outcry, affirms Ukraine’s sovereignty
Ukraine ‘in a good position’ for counteroffensive, U.S. general says
More than 98% of the combat vehicles pledged by Western countries before the expected Ukraine spring counteroffensive have been delivered, NATO’s top military commander told a congressional committee Wednesday, the New York Times reported.
“The Ukrainians are in a good position,” Gen. Christopher Cavoli, also the top commander of U.S. forces in Europe, told the House Armed Services Committee.
Ukraine has been gearing up to try to reclaim Russian-occupied territory with an offensive U.S. officials expect to begin in May, the newspaper said. The pace of weapons deliveries has increased enough for officials to believe Ukraine will be well supplied.
“I am very confident that we have delivered the matériel that they need and we’ll continue a pipeline to sustain their operations as well,” Cavoli said.
‘The aggressor is Putin,’ Spain reminds visiting Brazilian leader Lula
Spanish King Felipe VI said lasting peace for Ukraine “must be based on respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity” during a meeting Wednesday with visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who earlier this month accused the West of prolonging the war by supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Lula, as the Brazilian leader is commonly known, has pushed the warring parties to negotiate and recently tempered his criticism of the West’s intervention. Still, his differences on the topic with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez were evident at a joint news conference earlier in the day. Spain has supplied tanks and other weapons to Ukraine.
“There is no doubt that we condemn Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s rights with the invasion,” Lula said, “but it is of no use to say who is right or wrong. The war must be stopped.”
Brazil’s population of 219 million people ranks seventh in the world and is the second-largest in the Western Hemisphere. Lula, now in his third term as the country’s leader, has offered to help mediate peace talks.
Sánchez trod a fine line on Ukraine, thanking Lula for his peace proposal but saying that “in this war, there is an aggressor and a victim, and the aggressor is Putin.”
Ukraine launches Brave1, digital effort to aid war effort
Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation unveiled an initiative to create a single platform for defense tech companies, the state and the military, investors, volunteer funds, the media and “everyone who helps to bring victory closer through technology.”
The system, Brave1, is being designed to include drone technology, situational awareness systems, artificial intelligence and satellite data, among other uses. The goal is to build a system with a quick launch of defense tech projects, ministry chief Mykhailo Fedorov said.
“Make bold decisions, create the best conditions for the development of companies that develop military technologies,” Fedorov said.
Zelenskyy marks anniversary of Chernobyl catastrophe with a warning
Zelenskyy marked the 37th anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster by placing flowers at two Kyiv memorials and warning that Russia could fuel another nuclear catastrophe with military attacks near the plants.
Russian forces occupied the Chernobyl plant for a few weeks early in the war before withdrawing. The Chernobyl meltdown resulted in scores of deaths and contamination over a wide area.
“Thirty-seven years ago, the Chernobyl NPP accident left a huge scar on the whole world,” Zelenskyy said in a Twitter post. “It’s been more than a year since the liberation of the plant from the invader. We must do everything to prevent the terrorist state from using nuclear power facilities to blackmail (Ukraine) and the world.”
Russian forces have been stationed at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest, since capturing the site early in the war. International nuclear experts have warned that fighting near the plant has jeopardized safety.
Zelenskyy said he spoke Wednesday with Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“I stressed that only the return of full control over (the Zaporizhzhia plant) will protect the world from a new disaster,” Zelenskyy said.
Contributing: Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
