The Washington Post : Zelensky speaks by phone to China’s Xi, in their first call since war began

 Ukraine live briefing: 

Zelensky speaks by phone to China’s Xi, in their first call since war began

By Rachel Pannett, Adela Suliman, Christian Shepherd and Isabelle Khurshudyan

Updated April 26, 2023 at 12:04 p.m. EDT|Published April 26, 2023 at 2:28 a.m. EDT

Rescuers and volunteers search the rubble of a museum damaged by a Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian town of Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region, on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday he spoke with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the first time since the war began, calling the phone call “long and meaningful” but giving few details. “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,” Zelensky tweeted.

Xi said China would send a special representative to Ukraine for talks on resolving the crisis, state media reported. “Amid the current rise of reasonable thinking and voices from all sides, we should seize the opportunity to build up favorable conditions for a political settlement of the crisis,” Xi told Zelensky.

Last month, Xi made a grand state visit to Russia in a show of strength, highlighting Beijing’s bid for global leadership. It came shortly after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky, who has been visited by numerous world leaders in Kyiv, said previously he has invited Xi to visit Ukraine. Beijing has positioned itself as neutral in the conflict and recently released a 12-point proposal for ending the war.

Here’s the latest on the war and its impact across the globe.

Ukrainian President Zelensky held ‘meaningful’ call with China’s Xi Jinping

Key developments

German and British warplanes intercepted three Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea, German air force officials tweeted Wednesday. Two Russian air force Sukhoi Su-27 fighter aircraft and one Ilyushin Il-20 aircraft flew in international airspace over the Baltic Sea without a transponder signal, Germany’s Luftwaffe said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of causing a deadlock over the Black Sea grain deal. The negotiations, he said during a news conference at the United Nations in New York, have been “brought to a dead end by Western colleagues.” Russia has indicated that it will not agree to extend the fragile pact that allows Ukrainian grain to be exported beyond May 18 unless its demands — which include rejoining the SWIFT banking system — are met. The grain deal has helped ease a global food crisis resulting from the war.

Lavrov also alluded to the possibility of a prisoner swap for two Americans, Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who are detained in Russia. He referred to a number of Russians detained by the United States, telling reporters that “the discussion of these matters exists” but that such work “is not public in nature.” He was speaking at a news conference in New York, where Russia’s month-long term as the rotating head of the U.N. Security Council is winding down.

Battleground updates

“Heavy, short-range combat” continues in Bakhmut, according to a daily British intelligence update. The besieged area in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region has been the site of a deadlocked battle for months. Supply lines to Ukraine’s forces in Bakhmut are being “complicated by muddy conditions on unsurfaced tracks,” it added. Analysts at the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War said in their latest assessment that Russian forces continue to mount ground attacks in and around Bakhmut, aided by fighters from the Russian mercenary Wagner Group.

Ukraine is working with the FBI to collect war crime evidence, FBI special agent Alex Kobzanets told a conference. Ukrainian authorities are gathering phone data and geolocation information from battlefields, as well as forensic analyses of DNA samples to prove Russian war crimes, Kobzanets told the RSA cybersecurity conference in San Francisco, Reuters reported. “The next step is working with national U.S. service providers and transferring that information,” he added.

A woman sits in front of a building in Avdiivka, the site of heavy battles with Russian troops in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, April 25, 2023. (Libkos/AP)

Global impact

President Biden will discuss the Ukraine war at a Group of Seven meeting in Japan. Biden is set to attend a summit in Hiroshima on May 19 to “discuss a range of the most pressing global issues, including the G-7’s unwavering support for Ukraine,” a White House statement said. He will also attend a meeting of the Quad alliance in Sydney, which includes Australia, India and Japan, to address Indo-Pacific matters.

A former Wagner Group commander who is seeking asylum in Norway pleaded guilty to charges related to a fight outside a bar in the capital, Oslo. Andrey Medvedev, 26, said he was “very ashamed” of his behavior, Reuters reported. He seemingly defected from the fighting in Ukraine and crossed into Norway from Russia in January, claiming that his life is at risk if he returns.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to place assets in Russia from “unfriendly countries” under administrative receivership, the state media outlet Tass reported. The move was cast as retaliation against the seizure of Russian assets abroad since the start of the war as part of a program of Western economic sanctions. The document lists foreign stakes in power distribution company Unipro and energy firm Fortum as among the entities affected by the decree, according to Tass.

From our correspondents

Ukraine’s Azov brigade races to rebuild ahead of fateful fight: The Azov unit, known for its grueling last-ditch battle last year for the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, is scrambling to rebuild ahead of Ukraine’s much-anticipated spring counteroffensive, Missy Ryan, Kostiantyn Khudov and Alice Martins report.

Recruits practice shooting at an Azov Regiment training camp outside Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 24. (Alice Martins for The Washington Post)

“We are ready to liberate territory,” Maj. Bohdan “Tavr” Krotevych, the unit’s interim commander, said in an interview with The Washington Post. Krotevych is leading the rebuilding effort after his release from Russian captivity in the fall.

The Washington Post

April 26, 2023