Chinese President Xi Jinping said he and Vladimir Putin will forge a “blueprint for China-Russia strategic coordination” as he landed in Moscow for a three-day visit. The European Union closed in on a plan to provide Ukraine with a million rounds of ammunition over the next year.
(Bloomberg) — Chinese President Xi Jinping said he and Vladimir Putin will forge a “blueprint for China-Russia strategic coordination” as he landed in Moscow for a three-day visit. The European Union closed in on a plan to provide Ukraine with a million rounds of ammunition over the next year.
Xi’s trip marks his most ambitious effort yet to weigh into Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II, and will be followed by his first conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy since Russia invaded more than a year ago.
EU foreign affairs and defense ministers also meet in Brussels Monday to discuss the joint procurement of 155mm ammunition to support Kyiv’s war effort. They’re expected to back spending €1 billion ($1.1 billion) from the European Peace Facility for the bloc’s countries to jointly buy ammunition, according to people familiar with the matter.
Key Developments
- Xi Arrives in Moscow, Giving Putin Boost Amid Ukraine Invasion
- EU Seeks to Send Ukraine 1 Million Artillery Shells Over a Year
- Putin Makes Surprise Visit to Occupied City of Mariupol
- Japan’s Kishida Looks to Convince India to Get Tough on Russia
(All times CET)
Ukraine’s Energoatom Reaches Deal With Cameco on Uranium (1:05 p.m.)
Ukrainian nuclear regulator Energoatom and Canada’s Cameco Corp. reached an agreement on the supply of natural uranium hexafluoride, or UF6, to meet Ukraine’s nuclear fuel needs through 2035, the country’s Energy Ministry said.
“The nuclear industry is of strategic importance for Ukraine, and we are ready to develop and support our cooperation with Canada in this area,” Energy minister Herman Halushchenko said.
Lithuania Calls for Faster Delivery of Ammo to Kyiv (11:59 a.m.)
Lithuanian Foreign Ministers Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters he hoped European industry could meet the target of producing 1 million shells over the next 12 months to send to Ukraine, adding that “speed is of the essence.”
The bloc’s foreign and defense ministers gathering in Brussels are due to back a proposal to spend €2 billion ($2.1 billion) to send Ukraine ammunition from countries’ stockpiles and also to pool purchases of the shells, including a target to produce 1 million rounds of artillery within a year.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he hoped the ministers would finish the agreement today, adding “otherwise we’ll be in difficulties to continue supplying arms to Ukraine.” He added that 15 member states have already joined a European Defense Agency project to procure ammunition for Ukraine.
Xi Arrives in Moscow, Giving Putin a Boost (11:59 a.m.)
Putin will give a detailed account of his view of the year-old invasion and discuss China’s 12-point proposal for resolving it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Tass. The presidents are scheduled to hold one-on-one talks followed by an “informal” dinner Monday, with more negotiations and state dinner set for Tuesday, according to the Kremlin.
Russia’s Medvedev, Known For Wild Threats, Issues One to ICC (8:53 a.m.)
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Kremlin’s Security Council known for his angry social-media posts and often-empty threats, warned that Russia may strike the International Criminal Court with a missile after it issued a warrant for Putin on charges of war crimes.
“It’s quite possible to imagine a targeted use of a hypersonic ‘Onyx’ from a Russian ship in the North Sea on the court building in the Hague,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram, referring to a naval anti-ship missile. “The court is just a wretched international organization, not the population of a NATO country, so they wouldn’t start a war.”
Officially, Russia has rejected the warrant against Putin as illegitimate and void. Medvedev, who was president from 2008 to 2012, has become one of the most outspokenly hawkish officials on the war in his Telegram channel, often ruminating about striking directly against the US and its allies, something the Kremlin so far has avoided.
Putin Makes Surprise Visit to Occupied Ukrainian City (8:53 a.m.)
Putin traveled by helicopter into Mariupol on the Sea of Azov in southern Donetsk province over the weekend, the Kremlin said. The Russian leader’s unannounced visit — his first since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago and later claimed to have annexed four provinces — followed an appearance in Crimea.
The Kremlin released a 40-minute video of Putin driving around Mariupol in an SUV at night in a highly classified trip. Putin was shown visiting a new apartment block, where he stood in a playground surrounded by bodyguards while an official showed him photographs of reconstruction works.
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