Ukraine war: China’s Xi holds call with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Moscow’s most important ally, has spoken with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy over a “meaningful phone call”.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have spoken on the phone “for almost one hour” in the first call between the two leaders since the start of Russia’s invasion.
“I had a long and meaningful phone call with President Xi Jinping,” Mr Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter.
“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.”
Mr Zelenskyy’s spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov said on Facebook that the two had “an almost one hour-long telephone conversation”.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that during the call Mr Xi told Mr Zelenskyy “talks and negotiation” were the “only way out” of the war.
“On the issue of the Ukraine crisis, China has always stood on the side of peace and its core position is to promote peace talks,” CCTV reported Mr Xi as saying.
According to a readout of the call, Mr Xi said China “will neither watch the fire from the other side, nor add fuel to the fire, let alone take advantage of the crisis to profit”.
“When dealing with the nuclear issue, all parties concerned should remain calm and restrained, truly focus on the future and destiny of themselves and all mankind, and jointly manage and control the crisis,” Mr Xi said.
Beijing says it is neutral in the conflict but Mr Xi has never condemned the Russian invasion.
Mr Zelenskyy has said repeatedly he would be open to talks with his Chinese counterpart.
In February, Beijing unveiled a 12-point paper calling for a “political settlement” to the crisis in Ukraine.
The document portrayed China as a neutral party and urged the two sides to enter into peace negotiations.
The paper’s first point was that “the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively upheld”.
But China has consistently refused to expand upon how that relates to the specifics of the Ukraine war, which was triggered when Moscow’s forces invaded their neighbour.
In the paper, Beijing called on Russia and Ukraine to resume peace talks, stating that “dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution”.
“The international community should stay committed to the right approach of promoting talks for peace, help parties to the conflict open the door to a political settlement as soon as possible, and create conditions and platforms for the resumption of negotiation,” the paper read.
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.
— Володимир ЗеленÑький (@ZelenskyyUa) April 26, 2023
The document was met by scepticism from Ukraine’s allies, with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg saying Beijing “doesn’t have much credibility because they have not been able to condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine”.
Many at the time pointed to the fact Mr Xi had met with Mr Putin but not even called Mr Zelenskyy as evidence that China was not the impartial observer it claimed to be.
Many at the time pointed to the fact Mr Xi had met with Russian President Vladimir Putin but not even called Mr Zelenskyy as evidence that China was not the impartial observer it claimed to be.
PUTIN’S ARMY SUDDENLY CHANGES TACT
Russia has practically abandoned its bid to seize more territory in Ukraine and instead switched to defensive positions in anticipation of Kyiv’s long-awaited counteroffensive, according to the head of Ukrainian military intelligence.
Kyrylo Budanov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces were mainly focussing their offensive operations on trying to capture Bakhmut, the war-ravaged town in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.
“The only places on the frontline where they are making attempts are in the city of Bakhmut, an attempt to cover the city of Avdiivka from the north, and localised fighting in the city of Marinka,” he told the RBC-Ukraine website.
“Both in Avdiivka and Marinka the tactics are identical to those in Bakhmut.
“(They want to) … wipe the settlement off the face of the Earth.”
It comes as the chief of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said his men fighting in the flashpoint eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut would kill rival soldiers and take no more prisoners.
He was reacting to a Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel posting of an alleged recording of what it said were two Ukrainians deciding to shoot a Russian prisoner of war.
The channel did not say where the recording came from and there is no way of verifying its authenticity.
“We will kill everyone on the battlefield. Take no more prisoners of war!” Prigozhin said in an audio recording on Sunday.
“We don’t know the name of our guy shot by Ukrainians,” Prigozhin said, adding that under international law his group was obliged to “take care, treat, not hurt” any prisoners of war.
He said his group did not want to breach international law and, would kill all soldiers on the battlefield.
Wagner’s presence has been reported in conflict zones including Ukraine, Syria, Libya, Mali, and the Central African Republic, where it has been accused of abuses.
Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of killing prisoners of war since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to invade Ukraine more than a year ago.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in April denounced Russian “beasts” after a video appeared to show the beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner.
Prigozhin denied accusations from a Russian NGO and a Wagner deserter that members of his fighting force were responsible
PUTIN’S SOLDIERS TURN ON EACH OTHER
Russia’s regular army troops and mercenary fighters have reportedly turned on each other as they attempt to shift blame for their failure on the battlefield, according to Ukraine intelligence.
A gun battle between Russian troops and Wagner contractors broke out in Stanytsia Luhanska in Russian-controlled Luhansk Oblast, the Ukrainian General Staff has claimed.
The clash led to several casualties on both sides, according to the unverified reports from Ukraine’s daily evening briefing reported by The Kyiv Independent.
“They (different Russian forces) are trying to shift responsibility for their own tactical miscalculations and losses onto each other,” the report reads.
The Wagner Group has recruited thousands of prisoners to fight in Ukraine, with the bulk of its forces deployed to the heavy fighting on the frontline in key hot spots like Bakhmut.
The Luhansk Oblast where the internal fighting was said to have broken out has been occupied by Russia since early July 2022.
RUSSIA SLAMS US
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow “will not forgive” Washington for denying US visas to Russian journalists meant to accompany him on a visit to UN headquarters.
“We won’t forget, we will not forgive this” Mr Lavrov, who will chair several UN Security Council meetings in New York, said on Sunday.
Russia took up the presidency of the UN Security Council in April despite its offensive in Ukraine, which Kyiv said was “a slap in the face”.
Mr Lavrov denounced what he described as a “stupid” failure of the US to give visas to Russian journalists.
“A country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, freest and fairest, chickened out,” Mr Lavrov said.
He added this “showed the worth of their solemn assurances on freedom of speech.”
Since the beginning of the offensive, Moscow has strongly tightened conditions to obtain the accreditations needed to get journalist visas in Russia.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned of more retaliatory steps.
“We will find formats to respond to this so that the Americans remember for a long time that such things must not be done,”
Mr Ryabkov was cited as saying by state-run news agencies.
RIA Novosti also cited a diplomatic source saying that, following the incident, “American journalists will experience all the discomfort and inconvenience.”
Last month US journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on claims of espionage.
The US journalist, his publication and officials strongly denied the allegations.
Mr Gershkovich is the first foreign journalist arrested on spying allegations since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The diplomatic source cited by RIA Novosti said the incident over visas proved Washington’s “imaginary concern” for Gershkovich.
“Otherwise, they would not treat Russian journalists like this,” the source said.
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