War

Day 390 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Xi Jinping: The crisis in Ukraine can be resolved through pragmatic talks
The Chinese president arrives on a visit to Moscow for a meeting with Putin
Xi Jinping to the Russians before meeting with Putin: Peace and mutual benefit are an unstoppable historical trend
Russia has become China's largest supplier of gas
Polish diplomat: If Ukraine fails to defend itself, Poland will have to enter the conflict
Meeting of EU foreign affairs and defense ministers on support for Ukraine
Medvedev: The ICC ruling on Putin will have dire consequences for international law
Britain is ready to compensate Poland for sending MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine
"Financial Times": Explosives shortage in Europe could delay arms supplies to Ukraine


Xi Jinping: The crisis in Ukraine can be resolved through pragmatic talks

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the conflict between Russia and Ukraine can be resolved "if all are guided by the concept of common, comprehensive, joint and sustainable security and continue dialogue and consultation in an equal, reasonable and pragmatic manner," Reuters reported.

In comments ahead of his visit to Russia, he said China has "always taken an objective and impartial position and made active efforts to promote reconciliation and peace negotiations".

Xi Jinping also highlighted China's relationship with Russia, saying bilateral trade jumped 116% in 2022 from a decade ago, reaching a total of 0 billion, with Beijing being Moscow's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years.

He pointed out that joint projects in the field of energy, aerospace, aviation and transport connectivity are underway, with both countries working to expand cooperation in the field of scientific and technological innovation and cross-border e-commerce.

The Chinese president arrives on a visit to Moscow for a meeting with Putin

The Chinese president - Xi Jinping, arrives on a visit to Moscow. His program includes a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

According to the Kremlin, the main topic will be "strategic cooperation". The Chinese side announced that the two leaders would "exchange views" on important international and regional topics.

The purpose of the visit is to deepen "bilateral trust", adds Beijing. The visit comes as China offers to broker peace in Ukraine.

The West is skeptical of such an initiative, given the close relations between Moscow and Beijing, analysts say.

In the run-up to the meeting, both Putin and Xi Jinping wrote articles.

No country in the global arena has the decisive voice to determine the entire existing world order, the Chinese head of state wrote in Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

And in the Chinese "Renmin Ribao" Putin thanked Beijing for its realistic position regarding Ukraine and welcomed its willingness to participate in "crisis regulation".

Xi Jinping to the Russians before meeting with Putin: Peace and mutual benefit are an unstoppable historical trend

Today, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Moscow for a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as part of a three-day visit at Putin's invitation. Military experts expect the two to seek ways to circumvent sanctions in order to sell and provide Chinese equipment to Russia.

Xi Jinping is the first world leader to shake Putin's hand since the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader in connection with the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia since the start of the war. The Kremlin denies the accusations.

The Chinese leader's visit was accompanied by his article published in the government newspaper "Rossiyskaya Gazeta".

He is confident that the international community is clearly aware that no country in the world is superior to all others and that there is no world order in which the decisive word belongs to a single country.

"In the modern world, many profound changes are taking place. Peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit - this is an unstoppable historical trend. Multipolarity, economic globalization and democratization of international relations is an irreversible trend," says the Chinese leader.

Xi Jinping wrote that China and Russia firmly uphold the UN-based international system and the world order based on international law, as well as the fundamental norms and principles of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and carry out close coordination within The United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS, the G20 and other international platforms, making joint efforts to promote multipolarity and the democratization of international relations.

On the war in Ukraine, the Chinese leader noted that countries can find a rational solution if they adhere to the concept of "common, comprehensive, joint and sustainable security". He emphasizes the need "to respect the goals and principles of the UN Charter, to respect the reasonable concerns of all parties in the field of security, to support all efforts aimed at a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis and to ensure the stability of global chains of production and supply".

Xi Jinping calls for continuing joint work on "connecting the Belt and Road Initiative with the Eurasian Economic Union" and achieving such a "development structure" of the two countries that is distinguished by "mutual complementarity and compatibility of traditional trade and new forms of cooperation".

Putin, in turn, gave an interview to the Chinese newspaper Renmin Ribao, in which he declared for the creation of a "fairer multipolar world order", once again accusing the West of igniting the war in Ukraine "in an attempt to preserve the global domination and the unipolar world order".

Russia has become China's largest supplier of gas

Russian natural gas supplies to China reached 2.7 billion cubic meters in January, with Russia leading among other suppliers, Interfax reported, citing Chinese customs. Russia has overtaken the other major suppliers - Turkmenistan and Qatar (2.2 billion cubic meters each), as well as Australia (1.9 billion cubic meters).

In particular, in January "Gazprom" delivered nearly 2 billion cubic meters of gas to China via the "Power of Siberia" gas pipeline. Another 770 million cubic meters were through supplies of liquefied natural gas. According to customs data, total imports in January increased by 1% year-on-year to 11.3 billion cubic meters. Deliveries of liquefied natural gas increased by 7% to 5.210 million tons. Pipeline gas imports decreased by 7.2% to 4.48 billion cubic meters.

In 2022, trade between Russia and China increased by 29.3% to 190.27 billion dollars, which is a record. The customs services listed China as Russia's largest trading partner in 2022. In January-February 2023, trade turnover between the two countries increased by 25.9%.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced that deliveries through the "Power of Siberia" in 2022 reached a record 15.5 billion cubic meters of gas. By 2025, supplies are planned to increase to 38 billion cubic meters per year. Gazprom is considering supplying China via two other routes: from the Far East and through Mongolia.

Polish diplomat: If Ukraine fails to defend itself, Poland will have to enter the conflict

If Ukraine fails to protect its independence, we will have no other choice but to enter the conflict, Polish Ambassador to France Jan Emeryk Rościszewsk told the French TV LCI, BTA reported.

"Either Ukraine today will defend its independence, or, if it fails, we will be forced to join this conflict, because our values, which are the basis of our civilization, are under threat, so we will have no choice," Roschiszewski said.

On March 8, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Poland is ready to hand over its MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine as part of the international coalition to support Kyiv. Duda also said that Ukraine will receive F-16s in the future. Earlier today, Britain said it was ready to help Poland plug gaps in its air defense caused by the provision of some of Poland's MiG-29s to Ukraine.

Meeting of EU foreign affairs and defense ministers on support for Ukraine

The EU's foreign affairs and defense ministers will meet today in Brussels, and the main topic of debate will be the Union's support for Ukraine.

Foreign ministers will discuss the course of Russian aggression in Ukraine ahead of a meeting of European leaders on Thursday and Friday.

Before the start of the discussions, their Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba will inform them from a distance about the situation on the ground, as well as about the urgent needs and priorities of his country.

Diplomats express hope that the ministers will reach an agreement on the provision of military aid to Ukraine. Mainly they will focus on responsibility for the deportation of children to Russia, the peace formula for Ukraine, global food access and food safety.

In the afternoon, they will join defense ministers and together discuss the implementation of the strategic compass.

Medvedev: The ICC ruling on Putin will have dire consequences for international law

Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin would have dire consequences for international law, Reuters reported.

He pointed out that the ICC is "useless" and the system of public international law is ineffective and based on injustice.

"They (the ICC) have decided to convict the president of ... a nuclear power that does not participate in the International Criminal Court on the same grounds as the United States and other countries," Russian Federation Security Council Deputy Chairman Medvedev wrote in a post on Telegram.

"The consequences for international law will be monstrous. After all, this is the collapse of the foundations, of the principles of law... There is a dark decline ahead of the entire system of international relations," he warned.

Britain is ready to compensate Poland for sending MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine

Britain is ready to help Poland plug gaps in its air defense after providing some of its MiG-29s to Ukraine. So far, however, Warsaw has not made such a request, specified the British Minister of the Armed Forces, James Heappey, quoted by BTA.

Last week, Poland announced that it would send four MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. This would make Poland the first country among Kyiv’s allies to provide such aircraft.

The decision is likely to create a need to strengthen Polish air force equipment. Britain already provided similar assistance when Poland sent Ukraine T-72 tanks. London then provided Warsaw with Challenger 2 tanks.

"Financial Times": Explosives shortage in Europe could delay arms supplies to Ukraine

A shortage of explosives in Europe could delay an increase in production of projectiles by three years, which is worrying news for Ukraine over promised arms supplies, the Financial Times newspaper reported, citing EU arms experts.

Shortages of gunpowder, plastic explosives and TNT could delay a planned increase in projectile production by up to three years, according to sources familiar with EU arms production. This means, writes the Financial Times, that the European defense industry may not be able to fulfill the expected EU orders for Ukraine. The newspaper quoted a German official as saying that "the fundamental issue is that the industry is not in good shape for large-scale military production."

The Financial Times recalls that Europe has promised to replenish Kyiv's weapons stockpile and accelerate the delivery of 155 mm artillery shells with a financial injection. Ukraine has long called for more weapons to bolster its defenses against Russia, underscoring how important the projectiles are in the battle of attrition because thousands are fired every day by both sides.

Today, several EU countries are expected to sign a joint pact to procure the 155mm artillery shells for Ukraine. A senior EU official said last week that most of the 27 member states are expected to sign up to the deal, but some are still studying the proposal. Otherwise, the plan envisages that the first orders for such projectiles can be made by the end of May.