Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he has directly appealed to China not to support Russia’s war effort and called on Beijing to maintain a “pragmatic attitude” and help avert a wider global conflict.
(Bloomberg) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he has directly appealed to China not to support Russia’s war effort and called on Beijing to maintain a “pragmatic attitude” and help avert a wider global conflict.
“Our relationship with China has always been very good, we have had intense economic relations for many years, and it is in everyone’s interest that they do not change,” Zelenskiy was quoted as saying in Italian newspapers ahead of a visit to Kyiv by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expected as soon as Monday.
European Union foreign ministers arriving for talks Monday in Brussels joined US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in warning China against supplying Russia with weapons. The government in Beijing won’t accept any finger-pointing from the US over its relations with Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press briefing.
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Key Developments
- Biden Visits Poland a Year After Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
- Russia and China Have a Stranglehold on Global Food Security
- Ukraine’s Allies Work Through Consequences of the Long War Ahead
- US-China Meeting Only Worsens Tensions Over Balloon, Russia
- US Plans New Russia Export Controls, Sanctions on Key Industries
On the Ground
Russia conducted 10 missile strikes and 25 air attacks over the past day and launched 62 barrages from multiple-launch rocket systems, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Facebook. According to its statement, Ukrainian troops repelled assaults near seven settlements in the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions. Russia may lack sufficient reserves to “dramatically increase the scale or intensity of the offensive this winter,” analysts at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said in their latest report.
(All times CET)
EU ‘Will Remain Vigilant’ on China Weapons: Borrell (10 a.m.)
Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said he told China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, during their talks in Munich at the weekend that the bloc has “strong concern” about Beijing supplying weapons to Russia and if China armed Kremlin forces that would be a “red line.”
“He told me that they are not going to do it, that they don’t plan to do it, but we will remain vigilant,” Borrell told reporters in Brussels.
Denmark Supports Joint Procurement of Ammunition (9:30 a.m.)
Denmark believes a coordinated EU initiative to buy ammunition for Ukraine is a “very good idea,” Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in Brussels.
“We have a defense industry that — thankfully — is designed for peacetime, so there are capacity problems and therefore Denmark supports using the European Union or an alliance of the willing for joint procurement,” Lokke Rasmussen told reporters. The benefit of joint procurement is “a lesson learned from the Covid crisis” where it was important to ensure sufficient production of vaccines, he added.
Ukraine ‘Won’t Defend Bakhmut at Any Cost’ (8 a.m.)
Zelenskiy said that while it was important for Ukraine to defend the eastern city of Bakhmut, where there has been fierce fighting, it would not do so “at any cost and with everyone dying.”
“We will fight as long as it is reasonable,” he told Italian papers. Russia will likely claim it has captured Bakhmut to coincide with Friday’s one-year mark since the invasion regardless of the reality on the ground, according to the UK defense ministry’s latest intelligence update.
EU ‘Could Move Fast on China Sanctions’ (8 a.m.)
The EU could quickly move to sanction China if it turned out the government in Beijing was supporting Russia’s war effort, according to Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.
“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Asselborn said in an interview with Germany’s Deutschlandfunk radio ahead of talks with EU counterparts in Brussels Monday. “It would be a dramatic change and would obviously have consequences for our entire relationship with China, not just for Germany but for the whole EU,” he added.
The credibility of the peace proposals China has said it will present this week would be destroyed if it turned out Beijing was helping Russia, Asselborn said, adding that the EU is aiming to approve a 10th package of sanctions on Russia by Friday and is also planning to penalize seven Iranian companies that have supplied Russia with drones.
Macron Backs Zelenskiy’s Peace Plan (11:30 p.m.)
French President Emmanuel Macron renewed his backing for Zelenskiy’s 10-point peace plan during a conversation with the Ukrainian leader, according to an Elysee statement.
The plan includes a Russian troop withdrawal, cessation of hostilities and the full restoration of Ukrainian sovereignty and territory. AMX-10 armored fighting vehicles pledged by Macron will arrive in Ukraine in the coming days, according to French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
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