Russia’s war on Ukraine latest: Xi, Putin set sights on changing world order

(Reuters) – March 22 (Reuters) – China’s President Xi Jinping left Russia on Wednesday after a grandiose display of solidarity with President Vladimir Putin against the West, that ended with the two autocrats pledging to work together to shape a new world order.

RUSSIA-CHINA

* During his two-day visit Xi barely mentioned the Ukraine conflict and said China had an “impartial position”. There was no sign that Xi’s efforts to play the role of peacemaker had yielded results, but nor did he make any offer of direct support for Putin’s war in Ukraine.

* Putin said after talks with Xi that Chinese proposals could be used as the basis of a peace settlement in Ukraine, but that the West and Kyiv were not ready.

* Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy said Kyiv had suggested to China that it join a Ukrainian peace formula but it was still waiting for an answer.

* If China wants to play a constructive role in Ukraine, Xi should urge Russia to end its invasion, the White House said.

* Russia and China said their relationship had reached its highest level but that it was not directed against any other country and did not constitute a “military-political alliance”.

AID/DIPLOMACY

* The International Monetary Fund said it has reached a staff-level agreement with Ukraine for a four-year financing package worth about $15.6 billion to help its economic recovery.

* The United States plans to speed up the delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, a Pentagon official said, providing the vital equipment as soon as this autumn.

* Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met Zelenskiy in Kyiv during a rare, unannounced visit by a Japanese leader. Kishida toured the town of Bucha, where civilians were killed by Russian forces a year ago.

* The secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, said the United States wanted to “defeat Russia” and had become a participant in the conflict in Ukraine.

FIGHTING

* The Russian-backed administration in Sevastopol said it had suspended ferry routes around the Crimean port city, shortly after its governor said a Ukrainian drone attack had been repelled by air defences.

* Ukraine’s defence ministry said that an explosion in Dzhankoi in the north of the Crimean peninsula destroyed Russian cruise missiles intended for use by Russia’s Black Sea fleet.

* The General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said the fiercest fighting was taking place near the eastern town of Bakhmut and Avdiivka to the south.

* British military intelligence said there was a possibility that the Russian assault on Bakhmut was losing the limited momentum it had obtained.

* Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.

QUOTE

“Now there are changes that haven’t happened in 100 years. When we are together, we drive these changes,” Xi told Putin before leaving Moscow.

“I really feel great anger at the atrocity upon visiting that very place here,” Japan’s Kishida said while visiting Bucha.

(Compiled by Reuters editors)