France’s Macron says he can count on China’s Xi to reason with Russia

The world is counting on Chinese leader Xi Jinping to “bring Russia to reason” over Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said in Beijing on Thursday, amid an elaborate show of hospitality designed to prevent Europe from siding with the United States in diplomatic hostilities.

Macron’s comments, some of the most positive from a Western leader in response to China’s proposals over the Ukraine war, stand in stark contrast to American political rhetoric and are a win for Xi, who has tried to present himself as a neutral party and honest broker, despite a burgeoning partnership with Russia.

“The Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to [international] stability,” Macron said before meeting with Xi in the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square. “I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason and everyone back to the negotiating table.”

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Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- Microsoft will pay a $2,980,265.86 settlement relating to a violation of sanctions levied by the United States against Russia.

- China has a “major role to play in building peace,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday ahead of talks in Beijing, where he was joined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China, together with France, called for “restraint from all international partners” to avoid an escalation of the crisis in Ukraine.

- Sitting across from Xi, Macron said Russia’s war in Ukraine has ended decades of peace in Europe.

- “We count on China not to provide” military equipment to Russia, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said Thursday, according to Reuters.

- “Intense battles” continue for control of Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka in eastern Ukraine, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement on Facebook on Thursday.

More live updates here.

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- U.S. efforts to gain consular access to Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter detained by Russian authorities last week, remain unsuccessful, the White House said.

- In Beijing, French President Emmanuel Macron said the world was looking to Chinese leader Xi Jinping to “bring Russia back to reason” and to the negotiating table with Ukraine.

- The Biden administration says classified documents detailing U.S. and NATO plans to support an upcoming Ukrainian offensive appeared on Twitter and Telegram, the New York Times reports. The documents are five weeks old, focus on what materiel Ukraine may require for the offensive, and do not outline any battle plans.

- Russia’s main offensive efforts continue to be directed at Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivk and Marinka, Ukraine’s military said early Friday.

- The Moscow City Court is set to hear an appeal from Gershkovich’s defense on April 18, a court press service told Russian news agencies.

More live updates here.

Wall Street Journal reporter ‘wrongfully detained’ by Russia, Blinken says

BRUSSELS — A Wall Street Journal reporter whom Russia has accused of spying for the U.S. is “wrongfully detained,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday, as the Kremlin’s incarceration of another American further strains the two countries’ ties.

Blinken said the State Department was working “very deliberately but expeditiously” to conclude a formal assessment of whether Evan Gershkovich, a reporter assigned to the paper’s Moscow bureau, meets agency criteria to set in motion a broad government effort to secure his release.

“I’ll let that process play out,” Blinken told reporters following a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. Nevertheless, he added, “In my own mind, there’s no doubt that he’s been wrongfully detained.”

Gershkovich, who was arrested in late March during a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg, could face 20 years in prison if convicted on espionage charges.

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Here is the lastest from Ukraine:

- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Friday demanded the immediate release of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter detained by Russian authorities last week and accused of espionage.

- The Biden administration says classified documents detailing U.S. and NATO plans to support an upcoming Ukrainian offensive appeared on Twitter and Telegram, the messaging app popular in Russia, the New York Times reports.

- A man sentenced in absentia to serve two years because of a picture his daughter drew has been detained, according to Russian state media. Alexei Moskalyov’s sixth-grade daughter made an antiwar drawing in class, sparking an investigation, The Post has reported.

- Russia’s main offensive efforts continue to be directed at Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka, Ukraine’s military said early Friday.

More live updates here.

Here's the latest on Ukraine:

- The Washington Post on Friday obtained dozens of what appeared to be photographs showing classified documents, dating to late February and early March, that range from global intelligence briefings to updates and assessments of Kyiv’s defensive abilities.

- Ukrainian officials suggested that the leaked documents appeared to show “fictitious information.”

- Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Friday demanded the immediate release of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter detained by Russia last week on charges of espionage that the Kremlin has not substantiated.

- Russian forces are trying to take full control of the city of Bakhmut, Ukraine’s military said early Saturday, but fierce fighting continues inside the city.

- Russian lawmakers proposed raising the penalty for acts of terrorism, sabotage and high treason, Kremlin-aligned media reported.

More live updates here.

Over 200 Russian journalists, activists demand release of WSJ reporter

Some 200 Russian journalists and activists have signed an open letter demanding the immediate release of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter detained by Moscow last week. Russia has, without evidence, accused Gershkovich of spying for the U.S. government.

In the letter, dated Tuesday, the signatories voiced deep skepticism about the charges against Gershkovich, an American working for the Journal’s Moscow bureau, who had been on a reporting trip near the Ural Mountains when he was arrested. A court has ordered his detention until late May. Gershkovich filed an appeal.

The U.S. government and the Journal have forcefully rejected allegations by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) — the successor to the KGB — that Gershkovich was collecting intelligence on a defense enterprise.

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In old, feel-good story, Putin bought teacher an apartment. He didn’t.

Heartwarming stories about Russian President Vladimir Putin are not exactly abundant, but one from early in his tenure seemed to qualify.

During a state visit to Israel in 2005, Putin encountered an elderly Jewish widow from Russia who had been one of his teachers in high school. After a brief reunion, the Russian leader showered her with gifts and, she said, arranged to buy her a $208,000 apartment.

“When I got the apartment, I cried,” the former teacher, Mina Yuditskaya-Berliner, recalled nearly a decade later when she recounted the story to an Israeli newspaper. Putin does not appear ever to have addressed the purchase.

“Putin is a very grateful and decent person,” Yuditskaya-Berliner said.

Except that the money for the apartment purchase did not come from Putin.

Read the full story here.

Here is the latest on Ukraine:

- The Post obtained dozens of what appeared to be photographs showing classified documents dating to late February and early March.

- The head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, told The Post after the meeting Friday with Zelensky: “Where, when and how our actions will begin — only our country knows this, and the number of people who know in our country is extremely limited. Maximum of five people. Everything else does not correspond to reality and words at all.”

- Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak asserted that the leaked documents contained largely “fictitious information” and had “nothing to do with Ukraine’s real plans.”

- The chair of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center think-tank in Kyiv doesn’t believe the leak will have an effect on Ukraine’s planned counter offensive.

More live updates here.

Here's the latest on Ukraine:

- Ukraine has laid more than 6,000 antitank mines along its border with Belarus and Russia to fortify its defenses, Lt. Gen. Serhiy Naev said in a statement posted on Telegram by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.

- Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak asserted that the leaked documents contained largely “fictitious information” and had “nothing to do with Ukraine’s real plans.”

- Hundreds of people attended the funeral in Moscow for Vladlen Tatarsky, the Russian pro-war blogger killed in an explosion at a cafe in the city.

- A top Ukrainian diplomat is set to visit India on Sunday to discuss the Russian invasion, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

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Analysis: Russia’s Lefortovo prison is a relic of Soviet control that never left

Forty-five years after that exchange, the Soviet Union is gone. But Lefortovo still stands, and today it is used largely by the KGB’s successor, the Federal Security Service or FSB, as a pretrial detention facility. It is also where Evan Gershkovich, the 31-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter arrested last week on espionage charges, is currently being held. The arrest of an accredited foreign journalist on seemingly far-fetched espionage charges is an echo of the Soviet Union’s Cold War tactics — and a move his employer and those who know him say is preposterous and clearly politically motivated.

Gershkovich has now spent a week in the faded yellow walls of Lefortovo. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the reporter was “wrongfully detained,” adding that his department is working to assess whether he meets the criteria needed to launch a broad government effort for his release.

Read the full analysis here.

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- A leaked classified report shows that a Russian jet nearly shot down a British spy plane near Ukraine last year, an incident that appears to have been closer to pulling NATO into the war than publicly disclosed.

- Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak asserted that the leaked documents, which appeared to detail Ukraine’s combat capabilities and Western support, contained largely “fictitious information” and had “nothing to do with Ukraine’s real plans.”

- The artillery shortage for Ukrainian forces described in the leaked documents dated a month ago has persisted, said a Ukrainian officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the leak with the press.

More live updates here.

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- As Ukraine prepares for its upcoming spring counteroffensive against Russia, it is in need of more soldiers and weapons. Men in uniforms are knocking on doors and sometimes handing out draft papers on street corners.

- The Defense Department is still assessing the validity of the leaked documents that have triggered a Justice Department investigation, the Pentagon's deputy spokeswoman said Sunday.

- Pope Francis prayed for Ukraine and Russia in his Easter Sunday address and called for the “light of Easter” to shine upon the people of Russia.

- Russia plans to implement reforms to its air and missile defense forces, said Andrey Dermin, commander of the country’s air defense forces.

- China will have to work out the consequences of Russia’s actions, French President Macron said after wrapping up his state visit to China.

- Latvia will build a 39-mile fence on the border with Russian ally Belarus, local media outlet Delfi reported Sunday.

More live updates here.

Evan Gershkovich adored life in Russia. Now, the reporter waits in prison.

Inside a Moscow prison, Evan Gershkovich is waiting. He is joking about how the TV in his cell doesn’t carry the matches of his beloved Arsenal F.C., his friends say. And as the American journalist accused of spying remains imprisoned for what could be months or years, he is reading.

Since Gershkovich was arrested during a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals in late March, Secretary of U.S. State Antony Blinken has denounced the espionage charges against the “wrongfully detained” journalist, who could face up to 20 years in prison if he’s convicted.

Friends and colleagues who spoke to The Post emphasized how they’ve come together to do whatever they can to help free Gershkovich — a high school soccer star in New Jersey, a philosophy major in Maine, a curious reporter in Russia.

Read the full story here.

Leaked documents warn of weaknesses in Ukraine’s defenses

Leaked U.S. military and intelligence documents indicate alarming Ukrainian shortfalls in Western-supplied weaponry — especially ammunition and air defense — even as they show deep American penetration into Russian plans, equipment and manpower.

The disclosures offer an extraordinarily detailed snapshot of battlefield conditions in the Ukraine war from late February and early March, as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that the rate of Ukraine’s expenditure of ammunition was “many times higher” than the rate at which its benefactors could produce it.

That vulnerability and urgency still exists. The United States, NATO, the European Union and allies much farther afield have been furiously seeking more ammunition from South Korea to Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and the means to produce more themselves in anticipation of a Ukrainian counteroffensive that may just be weeks away.

Read the full story here.

Russia nearly shot down British spy plane near Ukraine, leaked document says

A Russian fighter jet nearly shot down a British surveillance plane last year, according to a leaked U.S. military document circulating online, an incident more significant than was previously disclosed and that could have drawn the United States and its NATO allies directly into the Ukraine war.

The near miss occurred on Sept. 29 off the coast of Crimea, the heavily fortified Ukrainian peninsula that Russia seized in 2014 and has used to base its Black Sea naval fleet and launch attacks elsewhere in Ukraine.

The document, one of dozens in a trove of leaked classified Pentagon documents that has triggered a Justice Department investigation, refers to the incident as a “near-shoot down of UK RJ,” a reference to the “Rivet Joint” moniker common for RC-135 reconnaissance planes. The aircraft is used to collect radio transmissions and other electronic messages.

Read the full story here.