Volodymyr Zelensky and Chinese President Xi Jinping have spoken for the first time since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.
The call was highly anticipated. Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by telephone with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, April 26, for the first time since Russia, an ally of China, launched its offensive on Ukrainian territory. An exchange “long and meaningful”just commented on Twitter (in English) the leader of Ukraine, who hopes he will give “a powerful impetus to the development of bilateral relations”.
“On the subject of the Ukrainian crisis, China has always been on the side of peace and its fundamental position is to promote peace dialogue.”said Xi Jinping, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The leader also promised, according to the same source, that China was not seeking to “To take advantage of” of this war. China, which has already encouraged Moscow and kyiv to talks, immediately announced the sending of a delegation to Ukraine to seek “a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis”. Ukraine, meanwhile, has appointed an ambassador to China, a post that has been vacant since February 2021. Here are the other takeaways from the day.
Westerners welcome Xi-Zelensky call, Russia criticizes kyiv
After the announcement of this telephone conversation, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs “take note” Beijing’s desire to “strive to establish a negotiation process”, in a press release. In the same text, on the other hand, he accuses Ukraine of “undermining peace initiatives” refusing to talk.
France “encourages all dialogue” slikely to “contribute to a resolution of the conflict” in Ukraine “in accordance with fundamental interests” of Kyiv and “to international law”said the Elysée on Wednesday, recalling that Emmanuel Macron had pleaded for this call during his visit to China in early April. “I welcome this conversation, I hope it is a first step for China to play a role in convincing Russia to stop its aggression”greeted the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell. “This is a good thing”also commented the American John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council of the United States. “That said, whether this can lead to a serious initiative, proposal or peace plan, we do not know at this time”he tempered.
Ukrainian journalist killed in Kherson, his Italian colleague injured
The Italian daily La Repubblica announced the death of a Ukrainian journalist, Bogdan Bitik, whom she employed to accompany her correspondent in Ukraine, the Italian Corrado Zunino. The two men are “ambushed by Russian snipers today in the suburbs of Kherson”a large city in southern Ukraine recaptured from the Russian army in November.
“I had a jacket with ‘press’ written on it”testified Corrado Zunino on Twitter (in Italian). Wounded in the shoulder, he served in hospitality in Kherson.
Russian planes intercepted over the Baltic Sea
The German Air Force says three Russian reconnaissance planes were spotted and intercepted over the Baltic Sea. “The two SU-27 Flankers and a Russian IL-20 were again flying without transponder signals in international airspace over the Baltic Sea”, she explains on Twitter, referring to a similar incident on April 17. German and British planes, participating in the surveillance of the airspace of the Baltic countries within the framework of NATO, intercepted them.
Russia wants to sanction new foreign companies
The Kremlin threatened to“to broaden” the list of foreign companies affected by seizures “temporaries” of assets in Russia, a means of exerting pressure at a time when the West is considering using frozen Russian assets abroad. “If necessary, the list of companies can be expanded”warned the spokesman of the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov.
Russia has also announced the expulsion of 10 Norwegian diplomats in response to that in mid-April of 15 employees of its embassy in Oslo suspected of espionage.
Ukraine grain deal still in jeopardy
Russia does not see “no progress” in removing obstacles to its fertilizer exports, said Russian Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov. This progress is a condition advanced by Moscow to agree to extend the agreement which allows the export of Ukrainian cereals by the Black Sea, which expires on May 18. “The UN is trying to do its best”underlined the Russian ambassador, “but so far we have only seen promises”he said, as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres made a proposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the details of which are unknown.