Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu on Sunday hailed ties with Moscow throughout a gathering with Russian President Vladimir Putin within the Kremlin. “We have very strong ties. They surpass the military-political alliances of the Cold War era… They are very stable,” he stated in translated remarks broadcast on Russian TV. Read our dwell weblog to see how all of the day’s occasions unfolded. All instances are Paris time (GMT + 2).
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01:04am: Ukraine says it’s discovering extra Chinese parts in Russian weapons
Ukrainian forces are discovering a rising variety of parts from China in Russian weapons utilized in Ukraine, a senior adviser in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s workplace informed Reuters, as Western provides are squeezed by sanctions.
In “the weapons recovered from the battlefield we continue to find different electronics,” stated Vladyslav Vlasiuk, who advises the president’s chief of workers on sanctions coverage.
“The trend is now that there is less Western-made components but more – not hard (to) guess which country – made components. Of course, China,” he stated through a video name.
China has repeatedly denied sending army tools to Russia since Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The assault triggered Western sanctions, together with on sending army and dual-use expertise comparable to microchips that might be utilized in both extraordinary home equipment or weapons.
6:39pm: Putin meets with China’s protection minister in Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with China’s protection minister on Sunday, underscoring Beijing’s strengthening engagement with Moscow, with which it has largely aligned its international coverage in an try and diminish the affect of the United States and different Western democracies.
Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met with Gen. Li Shangfu lower than a month after Chinese chief Xi Jinping held a three-day state go to to Moscow.
In feedback opening the assembly, Putin praised the overall growth of Russia-China relations.
“We are also working actively through the military departments, regularly exchanging information that is useful to us, cooperating in the field of military-technical cooperation, conducting joint exercises, moreover, in different theaters: in the Far East region, and in Europe, and at sea, and on land and in the air,” he stated, based on the Kremlin.
Li stated that the international locations’ relations “outperform the military-political unions of the Cold War era. They rest on the principles of nonalignment, and are very stable.”
5:29pm: Brazil’s Lula requires ‘peace group’ to dealer Ukraine-Russia deal
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday once more proposed establishing a gaggle of nations not concerned with the Russia-Ukraine battle to dealer peace, saying he had mentioned the matter with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping earlier this week.
“I think we need to sit on a table and say, ‘that’s enough, let’s start talking’ because war never brought and will never bring any benefit to humanity,” stated Lula, who has been essential of the United States and the European Union for his or her function within the battle.
The Brazilian president informed reporters in Abu Dhabi, the place he completed a visit his Asia, that he was attempting to collect a gaggle of leaders that “prefer to talk about peace rather than war.”
He cited Xi and the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, each of whom he met this week.
Lula had beforehand stated the group ought to collect international locations not “encouraging” battle. He added that nations which are supplying weapons must be satisfied to cease doing so.
5:00pm: Ukraine international minister to go to Iraq on Monday
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is anticipated in Baghdad on Monday on his first go to to Iraq since Russia invaded his nation, the international ministry stated.
Kuleba is because of maintain talks with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein in addition to Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani, the ministry stated in an announcement on Sunday.
They will talk about “bolstering bilateral ties, as well as regional and international” points, stated the assertion quoting international ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Sahhaf.
2:28pm: Russia’s Wagner chief speaks on POW launch
Russia’s strongest mercenary group, Wagner, launched an announcement in regards to the Ukrainian prisoners of battle being returned dwelling to mark Orthodox Easter, based on a video posted by the group’s shadowy founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Sunday.
“Prepare all of them, feed and water them, check the wounded,” Prigozhin was proven saying in a video posted on Telegram by his press service.
The video confirmed an armed Wagner mercenary saying to the Ukrainian troopers as they climbed right into a truck to move again to their homeland, “I hope you don’t fall back into our hands.”
2:19am: EU says unilateral motion on commerce unacceptable after grain import bans
Unilateral motion on commerce by European Union member states is unacceptable, a European Commission spokesperson stated on Sunday, after Poland and Hungary introduced bans on grain and different meals imports from Ukraine to guard the native agricultural sector.
After Russia’s invasion blocked some Black Sea ports, giant portions of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than that produced within the European Union, ended up staying in Central European states resulting from logistical bottlenecks, hitting costs and gross sales for native farmers.
The subject has created a political downside for Poland’s ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) occasion in an election 12 months because it has angered folks in rural areas the place assist for the PiS is often excessive.
FRANCE 24’s correspondent Emmanuelle Chaze studies:
11:25am: Ukrainian celebrates return of 130 troopers in Easter prisoner alternate
Ukrainian prisoners of battle have been launched and returned dwelling in a “great Easter exchange”, a senior Ukrainian presidential official stated on Sunday, the day of Orthodox Easter.
“We are bringing back 130 of our people. It (the exchange) has been taking place in several stages over the past few days,” President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of workers Andriy Yermak stated on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukrainian and Russian forces have held common prisoner exchanges throughout Moscow’s invasion, now in its 14th month.
It will not be clear what number of Russians have been returned within the swap.
8:30am: G7 diplomats collect in Japan to debate Ukraine disaster
Top diplomats from the Europe and North America have been arriving for the G7 assembly in Japan to debate the world’s most intractable crises, together with methods to finish Russia’s battle in Ukraine.
Amid widespread skepticism that the UN, which is usually paralysed by the outsized energy on the Security Council of Russia and China, can do something about these points, many shall be watching to see what, if something, G7 ministers from Japan, the US, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the EU may do.
The three-day talks may even see the primary actual take a look at of the Biden administration’s assertion that there was minimal harm from the disclosure of extremely categorized paperwork associated to the battle in Ukraine and US views of its allies and companions.
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Key developments of Saturday, April 15
The dying toll from Russian missile strikes on jap Ukraine’s metropolis of Sloviansk rose to 11 Saturday as rescue crews tried to achieve folks trapped within the rubble of an residence constructing, based on Ukrainian authorities.
Earlier, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated the US ought to cease “encouraging war” in Ukraine “and start talking about peace” on the third day of his state go to to China.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
Originally printed on France24