WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Xi holds first talks with Zelenskiy since Russian invasion of Ukraine

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke to Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, fulfilling a longstanding goal of Kyiv which had publicly sought such talks for months.

Zelenskiy, describing the hour-long phone call as "long and meaningful", signalled the importance of the chance to open closer relations with Russia's most powerful friend, naming a former cabinet minister as Ukraine's new ambassador to Beijing.

Xi told Zelenskiy that China would send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties seeking peace, Chinese state media reported.

Zelenskiy said in an evening video address that there was "an opportunity to use China's political power to reinforce the principles and rules that peace should be built upon."

"Ukraine and China, like the absolute majority of the world, are equally interested in the strength of the sovereignty of nations and territorial integrity," he said.

Zelenskiy also said Xi had expressed "words of support" for the extension of a deal to export Ukrainian grain from its Black Sea ports. Moscow has said the pact will not be renewed beyond May 18 unless the West removes obstacles to Russian grain and fertiliser exports.

Xi, the most powerful leader to have refrained from denouncing Russia's invasion, visited Moscow last month. Since February, he has promoted a 12-point peace plan, greeted sceptically by the West but cautiously welcomed by Kyiv as a sign of Chinese interest in ending the war.

China will focus on promoting peace talks, and make efforts for a ceasefire as soon as possible, Xi told Zelenskiy, according to the Chinese state media reports.

"As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a responsible major country, we will neither sit idly by, nor pour oil on fire, still less seek to profit from it," Xi said.

The White House welcomed the call but said it was too soon to tell whether it would lead to a peace deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron's office said he had pushed Xi to hold the call with Zelenskiy during a visit to Beijing this month.

NO PEACE TALKS IN SIGHT

The 14-month war is at a juncture, with Ukraine preparing to launch a counteroffensive following a Russian winter offensive that made only incremental advances despite bloody fighting.

There are no peace talks in sight, with Kyiv demanding Russia withdraw its troops and Moscow insisting Ukraine must recognise its claims to have annexed seized territory.

"There can be no peace at the expense of territorial compromises," Zelenskiy said in a Twitter post on Wednesday.

"The territorial integrity of Ukraine must be restored within the 1991 borders."

Ukrainian officials have long urged Beijing to use its influence in Russia to help end the war.

Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a "no limits" partnership agreement weeks before Putin ordered the invasion.

Since then, China has denounced sanctions against Moscow but has held back from openly supporting the invasion. China has also become Russia's biggest economic partner, buying up oil that can no longer be sold in Europe.

Following Wednesday's call, Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: "We note the readiness of the Chinese side to make efforts to establish a negotiation process."

Washington has said in recent months it was worried about China providing weapons or ammunition to Russia, although Beijing denies any such plans.

China says it is positioned to help mediate because it has not taken sides.

"What China has done to help resolve the Ukraine crisis has been above board," said Yu Jun, deputy head of the foreign ministry's Eurasian department.

Western countries say China's peace proposal is too vague, offers no concrete path out of the war, and could be used by Putin to promote a truce that would leave his forces in control of occupied territory while they regroup.

** Russians pound frontline positions in Bakhmut, Ukraine military says

Russian forces pounded the city of Bakhmut, the months-old focal point of their attempts to capture the eastern Ukrainian industrial region of Donbas, and the head of Russia's Wagner mercenary force said Ukrainian troops were pouring in ahead of an "inevitable" counter-offensive.

The general staff of Ukraine's armed forces, in a report on Facebook, said fighting gripped Bakhmut and nearby areas. It said Russian forces had failed to advance on two villages to the northwest. At least a dozen localities came under Russian fire.

Separately, Serhiy Cherevatiy, spokesman for Ukraine's eastern group of forces, told national television on Wednesday that in the past 24 hours, Russian forces had attacked 324 times using artillery and multiple rocket launchers.

"The Russians are destroying buildings in Bakhmut to prevent our soldiers from using them as fortifications," Cherevatiy said.

Cherevatiy on Tuesday said there had been a record number of attacks on a section of the front further north - near the city of Kupiansk, in northeastern Ukraine.

The governor of the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv said Russian missiles had hit an apartment building and a private house in the city of the same name.

One person was killed and 15 were injured, Vitaliy Kim wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Reuters was not able to verify battlefield reports.

TOP PRIZE

But Bakhmut remains the prize sought for now by Russian troops. They have tried for some nine months to push their way into the largely destroyed city in a conflict now extending into its 15th month and have secured some central districts.

Ukraine's military has vowed to defend what was once a city of 70,000, though President Volodymyr Zelenskiy suggested this month they might pull out if in danger of encirclement.

Russia's Wagner mercenary group has spearheaded much of the advance into Bakhmut and its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, said this month that its forces controlled 80 percent of the city.

On Wednesday, Prigozhin said in a video message: "Today, well-trained enemy units are already being thrown into Bakhmut ... A counter-offensive by the Ukrainians is inevitable."

A critic of Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Prigozhin said his forces "will advance at any cost, just to grind down the Ukrainian army and disrupt their offensive."

Ukraine's military has made no comment on a new counter-offensive to build on advances undertaken last year to recapture Russian-occupied areas in the northeast and the south.

In Washington, the top U.S. general in Europe said Ukraine's military would get the weaponry it needed in time.

General Christopher Cavoli, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, cited as an example that more than 98 percent of the combat vehicles promised to Kyiv had already been delivered.

Military analyst Denys Popovych told Ukrainian NV Radio that there was no immediate prospect of turning things around in Bakhmut.

"If Bakhmut falls, Russia will have resources to send elsewhere," Popoovych said. "Bakhmut offers an opportunity to destroy Russian troops and prevent them from being engaged elsewhere."

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Moscow reacts to Xi-Zelensky call

Ukraine’s “unrealistic” demands are standing in the way of peace negotiations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has stated. She made her comments in response to a question about the phone call between Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

The leaders spoke on Wednesday for the first time since Russia launched its military operation in the neighboring state in February 2022. 

Zakharova praised Beijing for its efforts to help restart meaningful negotiations. She said Russian and Chinese visions for a path to peace were “broadly in tune”with one another. “The problem lies not with the lack of good plans,” Zakharova said. 

The Kiev regime has so far not been receptive to any reasonable initiative aimed at a political and diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. Its occasional agreement to hold negotiations is being tied to ultimatums with obviously unrealistic demands.

The spokeswoman blamed Kiev for the eventual breakdown of negotiations last spring when Russian and Ukrainian teams held several rounds of meetings. Kiev, meanwhile, has repeatedly said that negotiations can resume only after Russia surrenders its recently incorporated territories. Moscow has called such demands unacceptable. 

Crimea voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia in the wake of the 2014 coup in Kiev. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, did the same after holding referendums on the matter in September. 

In October, Zelensky signed a decree that declared the “impossibility” of conducting negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Beijing, which unveiled a 12-point roadmap for peace in Ukraine in February, has maintained that the conflict can only end through dialogue. China, unlike many Western countries, has also refused to condemn Russia for its actions. 

China named diplomat Li Hui its special envoy to Ukraine and “other countries” on Wednesday. Xi said that the envoy would be tasked with conducting “in-depth communication with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.” Li was China’s ambassador to Moscow from 2009 to 2019. 

Zelensky, meanwhile, has appointed former strategic industries minister Pavel Ryabkin as the country’s new ambassador to China.

** Zelensky’s right-hand man contradicts US general

Ukraine still needs more weapons and equipment for the much-hyped spring “counteroffensive,” especially artillery ammunition, President Vladimir Zelensky’s adviser Mikhail Podoliak said on Wednesday. He disagreed with the US general commanding NATO forces in Europe, who told Congress earlier in the day that 98% of promised combat vehicles had already been delivered.

General Christopher Cavoli gave that statistic to the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday morning. “I am very confident that we have delivered the material that they need and we’ll continue a pipeline to sustain their operations as well,” Cavoli added, responding to questions about the expected Ukrainian attack.

Podoliak challenged that assessment later in the day, speaking during a telethon hosted by Ukrainian television. He said only the Ukrainian General Staff can offer accurate numbers, and that Cavoli’s statistics weren’t up to date.

“In my opinion, 98% is too much, too large a number. He proceeds from certain mathematical data, things he knows today,” the adviser said, referring to Cavoli. “There should be much more equipment, there is a real shortage of shells, especially of heavy calibers. We are trying to solve this problem.”

The current rate of supply allows the Ukrainian military to take “certain actions” at the frontline, Podoliak said, adding that there is “never enough” weapons and equipment when facing an enemy such as Russia.

The much-anticipated counteroffensive may have already begun, he suggested, urging the public not to regard it as a single event but a large number of engagements on various fronts

Multiple US outlets have sought to temper expectations about the Ukrainian attack over the past week, citing anonymous government officials worried about the political fallout from its possible failure. Last Friday, the White House even warned of a possible Russian offensive taking place instead.

Reuters/RT