Here's the latest from Ukraine:
- The U.S. said it respects Poland’s decision to send Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, but that the plan does not change Washington’s reluctance to supply Kyiv with F-16 jets.
- The White House on Thursday accused the Kremlin of “flat-out lying” as the Pentagon declassified video appearing to refute Moscow’s claims that the U.S. — not Russia — was the aggressor in a clash resulting in the downing of an American surveillance drone.
- A fire broke out at a building belonging to Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, killing at least one and injuring at least two.
- A Ukrainian commander was demoted after saying ill-trained troops were weakening Ukraine’s position on the battlefield, in an interview with The Post. He later quit his position, the Post reported.
- A U.N.-backed inquiry found evidence that Russian authorities committed human rights violations, many of which “amount to war crimes,” according to a newly released report.
More live updates here.
- The U.S. said it respects Poland’s decision to send Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, but that the plan does not change Washington’s reluctance to supply Kyiv with F-16 jets.
- The White House on Thursday accused the Kremlin of “flat-out lying” as the Pentagon declassified video appearing to refute Moscow’s claims that the U.S. — not Russia — was the aggressor in a clash resulting in the downing of an American surveillance drone.
- A fire broke out at a building belonging to Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, killing at least one and injuring at least two.
- A Ukrainian commander was demoted after saying ill-trained troops were weakening Ukraine’s position on the battlefield, in an interview with The Post. He later quit his position, the Post reported.
- A U.N.-backed inquiry found evidence that Russian authorities committed human rights violations, many of which “amount to war crimes,” according to a newly released report.
More live updates here.
Breaking news: China’s Xi will make a state visit to Russia on Monday
China’s President Xi Jinping will travel to Moscow and meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin next week.
According to the Kremlin, Xi’s state visit will take place from March 20-22. While China has maintained that it is neutral in the Ukraine war, it has offered diplomatic support for Russia and accused Washington of turning the conflict into a “proxy” war.
Before the trip was confirmed, the Wall Street Journal reported that Xi was expected to have a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following any planned trip to Russia, in what would be their first conversation since the conflict began.
More live updates here.
China’s President Xi Jinping will travel to Moscow and meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin next week.
According to the Kremlin, Xi’s state visit will take place from March 20-22. While China has maintained that it is neutral in the Ukraine war, it has offered diplomatic support for Russia and accused Washington of turning the conflict into a “proxy” war.
Before the trip was confirmed, the Wall Street Journal reported that Xi was expected to have a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following any planned trip to Russia, in what would be their first conversation since the conflict began.
More live updates here.
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The ‘barbed-wire curtain’ dividing Europe from Russia and Belarus, visualized
Finnish authorities started building a 124-mile-long border fence with Russia earlier this month. The barrier, which will be 10 feet tall and covered with barbed wire, is set to be completed in 2026.
Finland is the latest country to join a major effort by European nations to physically isolate Russia and Belarus through the use of border fences. Five other European countries neighboring Russia or Belarus have erected fences at their borders in recent years, with many also drawing up plans to extend those barriers in the coming years. The fences are intended to increase border security and prevent illegal migrant crossings.
Even though the Finnish barriers will not be impassable, authorities say they will still serve their purpose “by slowing down illegal entry and helping the authorities to manage the situation.”
Read the full story here.
Finnish authorities started building a 124-mile-long border fence with Russia earlier this month. The barrier, which will be 10 feet tall and covered with barbed wire, is set to be completed in 2026.
Finland is the latest country to join a major effort by European nations to physically isolate Russia and Belarus through the use of border fences. Five other European countries neighboring Russia or Belarus have erected fences at their borders in recent years, with many also drawing up plans to extend those barriers in the coming years. The fences are intended to increase border security and prevent illegal migrant crossings.
Even though the Finnish barriers will not be impassable, authorities say they will still serve their purpose “by slowing down illegal entry and helping the authorities to manage the situation.”
Read the full story here.
China’s Xi to meet Putin in Russia next week
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to Russia next week to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the strongest show of Beijing’s support for Moscow since the war in Ukraine began.
China’s Foreign Ministry and the Kremlin said in separate statements on Friday that Xi will visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday. The Kremlin said the two would discuss ways of “deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation,” adding that “a number of important bilateral documents will be signed” during Xi’s visit.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Xi’s visit would be a trip of “peace, cooperation and friendship,” stressing that China would promote peace talks. The visit will be Xi’s first to Russia since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis.
“China’s proposition can be summed up in one sentence, which is to persuade peace and promote talks,” Wang said on Friday at a regular press briefing.
Read the full story here.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to Russia next week to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the strongest show of Beijing’s support for Moscow since the war in Ukraine began.
China’s Foreign Ministry and the Kremlin said in separate statements on Friday that Xi will visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday. The Kremlin said the two would discuss ways of “deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation,” adding that “a number of important bilateral documents will be signed” during Xi’s visit.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Xi’s visit would be a trip of “peace, cooperation and friendship,” stressing that China would promote peace talks. The visit will be Xi’s first to Russia since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis.
“China’s proposition can be summed up in one sentence, which is to persuade peace and promote talks,” Wang said on Friday at a regular press briefing.
Read the full story here.
International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, alleging war crimes against children
Judges from the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued on Friday the court’s first arrest warrants related to the war in Ukraine, for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights.
The two bear individual responsibility for the war crimes of “unlawful deportation” and “unlawful transfer” of children from occupied areas of Ukraine after Russia invaded the country last year, the judges alleged.
Russia, like the United States, does not accept the ICC’s jurisdiction. But the warrants carry symbolic weight and could make it difficult for those named to travel to countries that cooperate with the court.
Read the full story here.
Judges from the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued on Friday the court’s first arrest warrants related to the war in Ukraine, for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights.
The two bear individual responsibility for the war crimes of “unlawful deportation” and “unlawful transfer” of children from occupied areas of Ukraine after Russia invaded the country last year, the judges alleged.
Russia, like the United States, does not accept the ICC’s jurisdiction. But the warrants carry symbolic weight and could make it difficult for those named to travel to countries that cooperate with the court.
Read the full story here.
Loss of U.S. drone clipped by Russian jet was a twist in a broader pattern
The forcing down of a U.S. drone by Russian fighter jets over the Black Sea on Tuesday spiraled into a diplomatic incident and fueled concern about the potential for the war in Ukraine to escalate into direct conflict between the two superpowers.
The incident also shone light on a fact of geopolitics that often receives little attention: Close calls, some harrowing, between U.S. and Russian aircraft aren’t unusual.
The United States and NATO allies often intercept Russian jets flying close to Alaska or to NATO airspace above the Black or Baltic seas. Russia also has intercepted American aircraft in those regions, sometimes swooping close enough to cause turbulence.
Read the full story here.
The forcing down of a U.S. drone by Russian fighter jets over the Black Sea on Tuesday spiraled into a diplomatic incident and fueled concern about the potential for the war in Ukraine to escalate into direct conflict between the two superpowers.
The incident also shone light on a fact of geopolitics that often receives little attention: Close calls, some harrowing, between U.S. and Russian aircraft aren’t unusual.
The United States and NATO allies often intercept Russian jets flying close to Alaska or to NATO airspace above the Black or Baltic seas. Russia also has intercepted American aircraft in those regions, sometimes swooping close enough to cause turbulence.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Turkey is set to start the process to ratify Finland’s accession to NATO, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday at a news conference in Ankara, making the announcement after talks with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
- Judges from the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued on Friday its first arrest warrants related to the war in Ukraine, for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights.
- The United States has not changed its stance on not supplying Kyiv with F-16 jets, despite respecting Poland’s decision, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday.
- Putin and Xi will hold a one-on-one meeting Monday afternoon, followed by an informal lunch, Peskov said Friday.
- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu gave state awards to the pilots who forced down a U.S. drone earlier this week, according to his ministry.
More live updates here.
- Turkey is set to start the process to ratify Finland’s accession to NATO, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday at a news conference in Ankara, making the announcement after talks with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
- Judges from the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued on Friday its first arrest warrants related to the war in Ukraine, for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights.
- The United States has not changed its stance on not supplying Kyiv with F-16 jets, despite respecting Poland’s decision, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday.
- Putin and Xi will hold a one-on-one meeting Monday afternoon, followed by an informal lunch, Peskov said Friday.
- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu gave state awards to the pilots who forced down a U.S. drone earlier this week, according to his ministry.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Putin’s arrest warrant is the first the ICC has issued for the head of state of a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
- Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Moscow next week to meet with Putin.
- The United Nations is doing “everything possible” to make sure that the grain deal brokered between Russia and Ukraine last year can continue.
More live updates here.
- Putin’s arrest warrant is the first the ICC has issued for the head of state of a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
- Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Moscow next week to meet with Putin.
- The United Nations is doing “everything possible” to make sure that the grain deal brokered between Russia and Ukraine last year can continue.
More live updates here.
Analysis: Ron DeSantis shows how Western unity on Ukraine may crack
For months, the consistent response was a shrug. Ask establishment U.S. lawmakers about some of their colleagues on the right — those who were expressly calling for a drawdown in U.S. aid to Ukraine — and they would tell you the howls of dissent were the concern of a small, noisy minority.
“Don’t look at Twitter. Look at people in power,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told the gathered dignitaries at the Munich Security Conference last month.
But away from the halls of power, the picture was different. Opinion polls show a growing number of U.S. Republicans are skeptical of Ukraine’s importance to the United States.
And what about people whose power may only grow? On Monday night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “territorial dispute” that would not be considered a “vital national issue,” certainly not on par with the need to check “the Chinese Communist Party.”
Read the full story here.
For months, the consistent response was a shrug. Ask establishment U.S. lawmakers about some of their colleagues on the right — those who were expressly calling for a drawdown in U.S. aid to Ukraine — and they would tell you the howls of dissent were the concern of a small, noisy minority.
“Don’t look at Twitter. Look at people in power,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told the gathered dignitaries at the Munich Security Conference last month.
But away from the halls of power, the picture was different. Opinion polls show a growing number of U.S. Republicans are skeptical of Ukraine’s importance to the United States.
And what about people whose power may only grow? On Monday night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “territorial dispute” that would not be considered a “vital national issue,” certainly not on par with the need to check “the Chinese Communist Party.”
Read the full story here.
Pentagon rejects Russian airspace claims after downing of U.S. drone
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that the U.S. military would “continue to fly and operate wherever international law allows,” rejecting Moscow’s claim of a self-declared exclusion zone over extended parts of the Black Sea the day after a U.S. drone was downed following an encounter there with Russian warplanes.
The Kremlin said it would try to retrieve the wreckage of the surveillance drone, which the Biden administration said was crashed in international waters by its operators after a “reckless” Russian pilot, perhaps unintentionally, caused a collision and rendered it unflyable. Russia denied the assertion and said the drone’s presence in the area a day earlier proved that the U.S. military was “directly participating” in the Ukraine war.
Read the full story here.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that the U.S. military would “continue to fly and operate wherever international law allows,” rejecting Moscow’s claim of a self-declared exclusion zone over extended parts of the Black Sea the day after a U.S. drone was downed following an encounter there with Russian warplanes.
The Kremlin said it would try to retrieve the wreckage of the surveillance drone, which the Biden administration said was crashed in international waters by its operators after a “reckless” Russian pilot, perhaps unintentionally, caused a collision and rendered it unflyable. Russia denied the assertion and said the drone’s presence in the area a day earlier proved that the U.S. military was “directly participating” in the Ukraine war.
Read the full story here.
Ukraine demoted commander who gave interview about ill-trained troops
KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian battalion commander who gave an interview to The Washington Post describing how ill-trained troops were weakening Ukraine’s position on the battlefield quit his post this week, after his superiors demoted him because of his remarks, he said.
The commander, a lieutenant colonel who goes by the call sign Kupol, served in the 46th Air Assault Brigade. He declined to provide further details or to grant another interview.
He said that he decided to speak out, despite the risks, hoping the United States would ensure better training for Ukrainian soldiers, including some who have gone into battle without knowing how to throw a grenade or handle their weapons. Some abandoned their positions while under Russian fire, he said in the interview.
Ukrainian military and government officials did not immediately respond on Thursday evening to request from The Post for comment on Kupol’s status.
Read the full story here.
KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian battalion commander who gave an interview to The Washington Post describing how ill-trained troops were weakening Ukraine’s position on the battlefield quit his post this week, after his superiors demoted him because of his remarks, he said.
The commander, a lieutenant colonel who goes by the call sign Kupol, served in the 46th Air Assault Brigade. He declined to provide further details or to grant another interview.
He said that he decided to speak out, despite the risks, hoping the United States would ensure better training for Ukrainian soldiers, including some who have gone into battle without knowing how to throw a grenade or handle their weapons. Some abandoned their positions while under Russian fire, he said in the interview.
Ukrainian military and government officials did not immediately respond on Thursday evening to request from The Post for comment on Kupol’s status.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- About “25 million metric tonnes of grain and foodstuffs have been moved to 45 countries” since the deal was enacted in July, United Nations spokeswoman Stephane Dujarric said Saturday morning. Turkish and U.N. officials did not specify the duration of the extension.
- Moscow said this week that it did not object to another extension, but only for 60 days.
- Countries in the Middle East and Africa had been watching the negotiations with concern.
- The ICC on Friday issued warrants for Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, accusing them of participating in the abduction and deportation of children from Ukraine to Russian-occupied territories.
- Putin visited Crimea on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of Russia’s illegal 2014 annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine, whose leaders want to recapture the territory.
More live updates here.
- About “25 million metric tonnes of grain and foodstuffs have been moved to 45 countries” since the deal was enacted in July, United Nations spokeswoman Stephane Dujarric said Saturday morning. Turkish and U.N. officials did not specify the duration of the extension.
- Moscow said this week that it did not object to another extension, but only for 60 days.
- Countries in the Middle East and Africa had been watching the negotiations with concern.
- The ICC on Friday issued warrants for Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, accusing them of participating in the abduction and deportation of children from Ukraine to Russian-occupied territories.
- Putin visited Crimea on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of Russia’s illegal 2014 annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine, whose leaders want to recapture the territory.
More live updates here.
Here's the latest from Ukraine:
- Xi’s visit comes at a thorny moment, just after the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin on Friday, accusing him of committing war crimes by illegally deporting children from Ukraine.
- A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said in a Telegram post that Ukraine’s peace plans are “nothing more than a set of ultimatums and demands from Russia that are disconnected from reality.”
- The ICC’s arrest warrant is largely symbolic: Russia, like the United States, does not recognize the international court’s jurisdiction.
More live updates here.
- Xi’s visit comes at a thorny moment, just after the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin on Friday, accusing him of committing war crimes by illegally deporting children from Ukraine.
- A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said in a Telegram post that Ukraine’s peace plans are “nothing more than a set of ultimatums and demands from Russia that are disconnected from reality.”
- The ICC’s arrest warrant is largely symbolic: Russia, like the United States, does not recognize the international court’s jurisdiction.
More live updates here.
Analysis: 20 years later, U.S. invasion of Iraq hangs over war in Ukraine
For months, U.S. and European officials have cast the conflict in Ukraine in stark moral terms. If Putin can succeed with a war of aggression across his borders, the argument has gone, then a dark agenda of territorial conquest and might making right wins out. President Biden has framed the contest as a clash between “all democracies” and Putin’s authoritarian project. Last November, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described the collective efforts of Ukraine’s Western allies as a reflection of “how much countries around the world value and respect the rules-based international order.”
The legacy of Iraq undermines this rhetoric. For many people in the Middle East and elsewhere in the global South, the U.S. invasion is the most glaring recent episode in a long history of Western meddling and U.S. hypocrisy on the world stage.
Read the full story here.
For months, U.S. and European officials have cast the conflict in Ukraine in stark moral terms. If Putin can succeed with a war of aggression across his borders, the argument has gone, then a dark agenda of territorial conquest and might making right wins out. President Biden has framed the contest as a clash between “all democracies” and Putin’s authoritarian project. Last November, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described the collective efforts of Ukraine’s Western allies as a reflection of “how much countries around the world value and respect the rules-based international order.”
The legacy of Iraq undermines this rhetoric. For many people in the Middle East and elsewhere in the global South, the U.S. invasion is the most glaring recent episode in a long history of Western meddling and U.S. hypocrisy on the world stage.
Read the full story here.
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Putin visits Mariupol in show of bravado
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to occupied Mariupol, the Kremlin said early Sunday. His trip to the Ukrainian city, which was devastated last year in a deadly Russian siege and is about 60 miles from the battlefront, is a show of defiance following the arrest warrant that the International Criminal Court issued for him over alleged war crimes in Ukraine. It was Putin’s second foray into occupied Ukraine this weekend, following a visit to the Crimean peninsula.
Putin’s itinerary in Mariupol was largely spontaneous, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Sunday. The Russian leader visited an apartment complex, spoke to residents about their concerns and drove a car about the city, Peskov said. “We won’t bother you, please excuse us for dropping by so unexpectedly,” Putin told the inhabitants of a three-bedroom Mariupol apartment after appearing with television cameras, according to state TV.
Read more in our live updates here.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to occupied Mariupol, the Kremlin said early Sunday. His trip to the Ukrainian city, which was devastated last year in a deadly Russian siege and is about 60 miles from the battlefront, is a show of defiance following the arrest warrant that the International Criminal Court issued for him over alleged war crimes in Ukraine. It was Putin’s second foray into occupied Ukraine this weekend, following a visit to the Crimean peninsula.
Putin’s itinerary in Mariupol was largely spontaneous, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Sunday. The Russian leader visited an apartment complex, spoke to residents about their concerns and drove a car about the city, Peskov said. “We won’t bother you, please excuse us for dropping by so unexpectedly,” Putin told the inhabitants of a three-bedroom Mariupol apartment after appearing with television cameras, according to state TV.
Read more in our live updates here.
Russia oil revenues plummeted in February as war penalties hit
Russia’s revenue from oil exports dropped by nearly half in February compared to last year after a European Union embargo and new price caps intended to punish Moscow for its war in Ukraine went into effect, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency. But it is unclear if the measures are seriously hampering President Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
Moscow earned $11.6 billion from oil exports last month, down from $14.3 billion in January and a 42 percent drop from $20 billion earned in February 2022, according to the IEA. The IEA is an intergovernmental policy advisory body based in Paris, whose 31-member countries are also part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Read the full story here.
Russia’s revenue from oil exports dropped by nearly half in February compared to last year after a European Union embargo and new price caps intended to punish Moscow for its war in Ukraine went into effect, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency. But it is unclear if the measures are seriously hampering President Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
Moscow earned $11.6 billion from oil exports last month, down from $14.3 billion in January and a 42 percent drop from $20 billion earned in February 2022, according to the IEA. The IEA is an intergovernmental policy advisory body based in Paris, whose 31-member countries are also part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to occupied Mariupol, the Kremlin said early Sunday. His trip to the Ukrainian city, which was devastated last year in a deadly Russian siege, is a show of defiance following the arrest warrant that the ICC issued for him over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
- German authorities will arrest Putin if he sets foot in their country, in accordance with the ICC warrant, Justice Minister Marco Buschmann told the Bild newspaper. Officials in Moscow described the warrant as unlawful and said they were investigating the German minister’s statement, according to Russia’s state-run Tass news agency.
- Ukrainian officials criticized Putin’s visit as a carefully orchestrated stunt, undertaken in darkness to minimize the damage his forces had wreaked on the city during a months-long siege. The Russian leader traveled at night “as befits a thief,” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry tweeted.
More live updates here.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to occupied Mariupol, the Kremlin said early Sunday. His trip to the Ukrainian city, which was devastated last year in a deadly Russian siege, is a show of defiance following the arrest warrant that the ICC issued for him over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
- German authorities will arrest Putin if he sets foot in their country, in accordance with the ICC warrant, Justice Minister Marco Buschmann told the Bild newspaper. Officials in Moscow described the warrant as unlawful and said they were investigating the German minister’s statement, according to Russia’s state-run Tass news agency.
- Ukrainian officials criticized Putin’s visit as a carefully orchestrated stunt, undertaken in darkness to minimize the damage his forces had wreaked on the city during a months-long siege. The Russian leader traveled at night “as befits a thief,” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry tweeted.
More live updates here.
China's Xi to visit Putin in Russia, in first trip since Ukraine war.
- Chinese leader Xi Jinping is arriving in Moscow on a state visit that begins on Monday. Officials in Western capitals are eyeing the trip — his first since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine — for signs it could exacerbate global tensions, by providing Putin with a morale boost and a tacit endorsement of his brutal invasion of Ukraine.
- President Zelensky did not mention Xi’s upcoming visit to Russia in his nightly address Sunday, focusing instead on a decision by the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Putin over alleged war crimes. The ICC warrant effectively makes Putin a wanted man in 123 countries.
- China launched a public diplomacy offensive to wrest control of the narrative about its role in the invasion, trying to clear itself of accusations that it has sided with Russia while accusing the United States of turning the conflict into a “proxy” war.
Follow our live updates.
- Chinese leader Xi Jinping is arriving in Moscow on a state visit that begins on Monday. Officials in Western capitals are eyeing the trip — his first since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine — for signs it could exacerbate global tensions, by providing Putin with a morale boost and a tacit endorsement of his brutal invasion of Ukraine.
- President Zelensky did not mention Xi’s upcoming visit to Russia in his nightly address Sunday, focusing instead on a decision by the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Putin over alleged war crimes. The ICC warrant effectively makes Putin a wanted man in 123 countries.
- China launched a public diplomacy offensive to wrest control of the narrative about its role in the invasion, trying to clear itself of accusations that it has sided with Russia while accusing the United States of turning the conflict into a “proxy” war.
Follow our live updates.
What is China’s relationship with Russia, and with Ukraine?
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is in Russia this week to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
The visit will last from Monday to Wednesday and is set to attract close scrutiny in Western capitals intent on discerning developments in the increasingly warm relationship between the two countries, both of which are nuclear-armed, permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
More than a year into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin is a pariah at most international meetings and has relatively few powerful allies abroad.
China has not endorsed Russia’s war on Ukraine and has promoted a 12-point proposal for ending it. But Beijing has stopped far short of condemning Russia’s aggression, and the visit is likely to be interpreted in some corners as a tacit endorsement of Russia’s actions.
Read the full story here.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is in Russia this week to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
The visit will last from Monday to Wednesday and is set to attract close scrutiny in Western capitals intent on discerning developments in the increasingly warm relationship between the two countries, both of which are nuclear-armed, permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
More than a year into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin is a pariah at most international meetings and has relatively few powerful allies abroad.
China has not endorsed Russia’s war on Ukraine and has promoted a 12-point proposal for ending it. But Beijing has stopped far short of condemning Russia’s aggression, and the visit is likely to be interpreted in some corners as a tacit endorsement of Russia’s actions.
Read the full story here.
Xi arrives in Russia to stand with Putin against West amid Ukraine war
Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Russia on Monday for a much-anticipated three-day state visit, taking a joint stand with President Vladimir Putin against the West even as the Russian leader stands accused by the International Criminal Court of war crimes in Ukraine.
The two men, each positioned as “leader for life” of a nuclear power, celebrated their “no limits” relationship in Beijing together in early 2022, just weeks before Putin ordered his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and they have met about 40 times. But Monday’s visit, the first by Xi since the invasion, represents a display of tacit support for the war by China and a personal triumph for Putin, who is eager to show he is not isolated on the world stage.
At an initial meeting on Monday afternoon, the leaders appeared relaxed, smiling as they shook hands. “Dear friend, welcome to Russia,” Putin said.
Read the full story here.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Russia on Monday for a much-anticipated three-day state visit, taking a joint stand with President Vladimir Putin against the West even as the Russian leader stands accused by the International Criminal Court of war crimes in Ukraine.
The two men, each positioned as “leader for life” of a nuclear power, celebrated their “no limits” relationship in Beijing together in early 2022, just weeks before Putin ordered his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and they have met about 40 times. But Monday’s visit, the first by Xi since the invasion, represents a display of tacit support for the war by China and a personal triumph for Putin, who is eager to show he is not isolated on the world stage.
At an initial meeting on Monday afternoon, the leaders appeared relaxed, smiling as they shook hands. “Dear friend, welcome to Russia,” Putin said.
Read the full story here.