Ukraine news: China’s head of state Xi landed in Moscow

The essentials in brief:

• China’s President Xi arrived in Moscow for a three-day state visit
• Putin: China could play “constructive role”.
• Zelenskyj: Russia will be held accountable
• EU countries want to ease ammunition shortage in Ukraine
• War in Ukraine helps Rheinmetall to rise to the Dax

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has arrived in Moscow for a three-day state visit to Russia. The state news agency Ria Novosti circulated images of his plane after landing at Moscow’s Vnukovo government airport. A red carpet was rolled out in front of the machine for the state guest.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry described Xi’s trip as a “visit for peace”. Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin would exchange views on bilateral relations and important international and regional issues. It is Xi’s first visit to Moscow in almost four years. So far, China has tried to portray itself as a neutral party in Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.

Putin is ready to talk

Ahead of Xi’s arrival, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed China’s willingness to play a “constructive role” in ending the Ukraine war. “Russia is open to a settlement of the Ukraine crisis by political-diplomatic means,” Putin wrote in an article for the Chinese “People’s Daily” (Renmin Ribao). However, he also insisted that Kiev had to recognize “new geopolitical realities” with the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and four Ukrainian regions last year. Ultimatums to Russia show that their authors are “far removed from these realities and have no interest in trying to find a solution,” the Kremlin chief added.

In the article, Putin also highlighted the importance of the relationship between Moscow and Beijing. Russian-Chinese relations are at a “high” and better than any political and military alliance during the Cold War, Putin wrote. He therefore has “great expectations” in the talks with Xi.

Xi stressed Beijing’s “objective and unbiased” stance on the war in Ukraine. China is making active efforts to support peace talks and reconciliation, the head of state wrote in an article for the Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Like Putin, Xi also invoked close Russian-Chinese cooperation.

Zelenskyj: Russia will be held accountable

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia will have to answer for all crimes committed in the war against Ukraine. “The evil state will be held accountable for every act of terrorism against Ukrainians,” said Zelenskyy. It is about “responsibility for the attack on Ukraine, for every life destroyed, for every deported Ukrainian child”.

Selenskyj spoke again about the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the Russian head of state Vladimir Putin. The arrest warrant is “a really important result of international law for Ukraine” and a turning point. From now on it is clear that at the end of the war Russia will have to assume “the full range of its responsibilities”, said the Ukrainian head of state.

In his video message on Sunday evening, Zelenskyy expressly thanked the deminers in Ukraine and addressed many of them by name. “This is a daily tedious and very dangerous work.” Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, the experts have searched more than 100,000 hectares. More than 400,000 grenades were defused and more than 200,000 explosive objects removed, Zelenskyj reported.

Ukrainian military intelligence claims responsibility for deadly attack

The Ukrainian military intelligence service has claimed responsibility for killing a “traitor” in the Russian-held territories. “The organizer of torture chambers in the Kherson region, Serhiy Moskalenko, was recently liquidated in the temporarily occupied territory,” the intelligence service said. The dead man worked with the Russian occupiers and was the head of a detention center in the southern Ukrainian region of Cherson. The attack itself took place on Friday.

Justice ministers discuss ICC support

As the host of an international ministerial meeting, Great Britain wants to advance the investigation of Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Justice ministers from around the world met in London this Monday to organize financial and practical support for the work of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the British Justice Department said. They gather “united in the goal of holding war criminals accountable for the atrocities committed during this unjust, unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine,” said department head Dominic Raab.

Arrest warrant against Putin is life imprisonment

The chief prosecutor of the criminal court, Karim Khan, made it clear that the court’s arrest warrant for Russian leader Vladimir Putin was valid for life. There is no statute of limitations for war crimes, Khan told the BBC.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin on Friday for war crimes in Ukraine. Investigators blame him for kidnapping children from occupied
Ukrainian territories to Russian territory responsible.

London: Russia with “creeping gains in territory”

According to British estimates, the Russian army is making gradual advances in the embattled city of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense in London said their units had made “creeping gains” in the past three weeks, citing intelligence findings. The situation is similar to the situation around the city of Bakhmut further north. “Ukrainian forces continue their organized defense, but their westward supply routes are increasingly threatened by the Russian encirclement attack.” Above all, the extensive area of ​​the coking plant is a key in the defense of the city, it was said in London.

EU countries want to ease ammunition shortage in Ukraine

The foreign and defense ministers of the EU states are discussing further support for Ukraine in the war against Russia this Monday. The meeting in Brussels is said to be primarily about the delivery of urgently needed ammunition. In the near future, Ukraine could lack important types of ammunition, it said. This is particularly the case with artillery shells. The EU Commission and foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell recently presented a plan on how ammunition deliveries could be accelerated.

War in Ukraine helps Rheinmetall to rise to the Dax

The Düsseldorf-based armaments group Rheinmetall, whose share price has almost doubled since the start of the Ukraine war, will be included in the German stock index (Dax) this Monday. In 2022, the group’s sales reached a record high of around 6.4 billion euros. Rheinmetall also expects “continued strong growth in sales and earnings” for the current year. Because: “In the changed security policy situation, the group sees itself in a promising position to play an important role in the upcoming increase in defense capability in Germany and in partner countries with security technology products.” Around 25,000 people work at Rheinmetall worldwide.

“Extraordinary events” in soldier training

Four soldiers died in an accident at a military training ground north of Kiev, according to Ukrainian sources. The affected training center in the Chernihiv region said on Facebook that it was being determined how the “extraordinary event” could have happened on Saturday. It sent condolences to the families and friends of those who died.

se/wa/ack (dpa, rtr, afp)

This article will be continuously updated on the day of its publication. Reports from war zones cannot be independently verified.