The conflict – and need to avoid a nuclear escalation – was notable on the agenda as Mr Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen visited Beijing, days after Moscow vowed to station part of its arsenal in Belarus. The United States has nuclear weapons stationed with several European Nato partners.
China’s leader agreed that all countries should abide by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, with a French diplomatic source claiming that Mr Macron and Mr Xi had agreed to “work hard” to bring both parties to the negotiating table.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said it believed that Vladimir Putin has fired Colonel-General Rustam Muradov as commander of the Eastern Group of Forces (EGF) in Ukraine, marking the most senior Russian military dismissal of 2023 so far.
The group has “suffered exceptionally heavy casualties in recent months as its poorly conceived assaults repeatedly failed to capture” the Donetsk town of Vuhledar, the ministry said.
Macron urges Xi to ‘bring Putin to his senses’ on war and nuclear threats
Emmanuel Macron has urged Xi Jinping to bring Russia “to its senses”, during a visit to Beijing, which is claimed to have seen the two presidents agree to ‘work hard’ to end the war in Ukraine.
Referring to the UN Charter on respecting countries’ sovereignty and an international nuclear weapons treaty, the French president said: “I know I can count on you, under the two principles I just mentioned, to bring Russia to its senses and bring everyone back to the negotiating table.”
Mr Xi responded that China was willing to “jointly appeal with France to the international community to remain rational and calm”, adding: “Peace talks should be resumed as soon as possible, taking into account the reasonable security concerns of all sides with reference to the UN Charter … seeking political resolution and constructing a balanced, effective and sustainable European security framework.”
A French diplomatic source did not say whether China had indicated any change in its position during the 90-minute meeting, but told Reuters that “the President and Xi agreed to ‘work hard’ in order to accelerate the end of the war and to obtain that a negotiation opens in the full respect of international law”.
World Bank: Improved outlooks for Russia and Ukraine despite ongoing war
The World Bank on Thursday lifted its 2023 economic growth forecast for eastern Europe and central Asia to 1.4 per cent from an earlier 0.1 per cent prediction, citing improved outlooks for both Russia and Ukraine despite their ongoing war.
The regional forecast, released just days before the World Bank and International Monetary Fund hold their annual spring meetings, has Ukraine‘s economy growing by 0.5 per cent this year following a staggering contraction of 29.2 per cent in 2022, the year Russia launched its invasion.
“While the economic toll suffered by Ukraine as a result of the invasion is enormous, the reopening of Ukraine‘s Black Sea ports and resumption of grain trade, as well as substantial donor support, are helping support economic activity this year,” the World Bank said in a statement.
Russia’s economy shrank 2.1 per cent last year, considerably less than the 3.5 per cent contraction the World Bank forecast in January.
For 2023, the World Bank forecast Russia’s economy to contract by 0.2 per cent, compared to its previous forecast of a 3.3 per cent contraction.
The World Bank’s regional grouping includes Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
Ukraine sends conflicting signals on Crimea talks idea
A top Ukrainian official has ruled out talks with Moscow about territory until it withdraws all troops, pushing back on a colleague who had touted the idea of negotiations to resolve the Russian occupation of the Crimean peninsula.
Andriy Sybiha, deputy head of president Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, told the Financial Times on Wednesday that Kyiv would be willing to discuss the future of Crimea with Moscow if Ukraine‘s counter-offensive reaches the peninsula.
Russia occupied Ukraine‘s Crimean peninsula in 2014, long before it launched its full-scale invasion in Feb. 2022. It has a huge concentration of forces on the Black Sea territory.
Ukraine, which has vowed to recapture all lost land, plans to launch a counter-offensive in the coming weeks or months to try to wrest back territory in the east and south.
But on Thursday, Mykhailo Podolyak, a presidential adviser, appeared to directly contradict Sybiha’s remarks on Twitter.
“The basis for real negotiations with (Russia) is the complete withdrawal of Russian armed groups beyond the internationally recognised borders of Ukraine in 1991. Including #Crimea,” he said.
“There is no question of any territorial concessions or bargaining of our sovereign rights.”
Russia says seven civilians killed in Ukraine shelling attacks
Authorities in Russian-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine said a total of seven civilians were killed on Thursday in two separate Ukrainian artillery strikes, Russian news agencies said.
Four civilians died in Donetsk when shells hit a car park, and another six people were injured, Tass said. RIA later said three people died in blasts at a bus stop in Lysychansk, some 120 km (75 miles) to the northeast of Donetsk.
Donetsk, capital of the Ukrainian province of the same name, has been controlled by Russian proxy forces since 2014, but remains close to the front line of Russia’s war with Ukraine and regularly comes under fire from Ukrainian forces.
The Independent was not immediately able to verify reports.
Russia says deputy foreign minister discussed jailed WSJ reporter
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov discussed the case of jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich with the US ambassador to Russia on Thursday, the foreign ministry said, according to the state-run news agency TASS.
Ryabkov repeated the ministry’s position that the question of US consular access to Gershkovich case would be handled according to established procedure.
Gershkovich was charged with espionage last week after being detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, and remanded in custody for two months.
The US government and the Wall Street Journal have denied that he was engaged in spying.
What we know about the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Russia
The son of Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union who grew up speaking Russian at home in Princeton, New Jersey, Gershkovich graduated from the prestigious Bowdoin College in Maine before embarking on a career in the media, firstly at The New York Times, then The Moscow Times and then Agence France-Presse before joining WSJ, where he began covering Russian affairs just a month before the invasion of Ukraine last year.
Xi agreed to speak to Zelensky when ‘time is right’, says von der Leyen
China’s Xi Jinping expressed willingness to speak to Volodymyr Zelensky, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has claimed, after their meeting in Beijing.
“It was interesting to hear that President Xi reiterated his willingness to speak” to the Ukrainian president, Ms Von der Leyen said, calling his words “positive”.
She added that Mr Xi had told her a conversation with Mr Zelensky could happen when the “conditions and time are right”.
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Protests have broken out across France on the 11th day of national strikes with one of President Emmanuel Macron's favourite restaurants set on fire, tear gas used on demonstrators and traffic at Paris' main airport disrupted.
Thousands of people gathered in cities to demonstrate against Mr Macron's controversial pension reforms that have sparked months of public anger.
Rat catchers in Paris threw dead rodents at city hall "to show the hard reality of their mission", according to Natacha Pommet, a leader of the CGT trade union.
Image:Protesters set litter bins on fire during clashes at a demonstration in Paris
At Charles de Gaulle airport in the capital, around 100 protesters blocked a road leading to terminal one and entered the terminal building.
Flights were unaffected but passengers were delayed getting through the airport.
Clashes erupted in Paris as protesters targeted one of Mr Macron's favourite restaurants.
Image:The awning of the La Rotonde restaurant burns during the demonstration. Pic: AP
The awning of the La Rotonde brasserie was set on fire with demonstrators throwing stones, bottles and paint at police.
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The restaurant is well known among the French public for hosting a celebratory dinner for Mr Macron as he led the first round of the 2017 presidential election.
Image:French riot police hit with paint in front of La Rotonde restaurant
Meanwhile, at one march in the city of Rennes in Brittany, police fired tear gas to disperse protesters who chanted "strike, blockade, Macron walk away!"
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Image:Masked protesters react amid tear gas during clashes in Rennes
In the western city of Nantes, tractors joined the parade of marchers and tear gas was also deployed against demonstrators.
Protests in other cities have been largely peaceful with thousands marching behind union flags and banners in Marseille on the Mediterranean coast, Bordeaux in the south west, Lyon in the south east and other cities.
Image:Masked protesters protect themselves with umbrellas near burning litter bins amid clashes in Rennes
Union leaders said the public's fury at President Macron's pension reforms has morphed into a wider movement of workers angry about salaries and other working conditions.
Mr Macron has given no signal he would back down from the controversial reforms which would change France's retirement age from 62 to 64.
Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is being treated for a type of chronic leukaemia, hospital doctors in Milan have confirmed.
He was rushed to intensive care on Wednesday with breathing problems and doctors said he was suffering from a related lung infection.
A four-time prime minister and media mogul, Mr Berlusconi, 86, still leads his party and is an elected senator.
But he has had repeated health problems since he contracted Covid-19 in 2020.
Colleagues have expressed hope that he will still be able to return to front-line politics as he continues to lead Forza Italia, a centre-right junior partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition.
"We want to be optimistic," said Antonio Tajani, Italy's foreign minister and one of the most senior figures in Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party.
As Italians waited for more details, the billionaire media tycoon's younger brother, Paolo, told reporters the family was now feeling confident: "We're more relieved, there's an improvement."
Mr Berlusconi has combined politics with a business career at the helm of a media empire. He last served as prime minister in 2011, although his latter years in power became overshadowed by sex and corruption scandals.
He was elected to Italy's upper house, the Senate, last September but has repeatedly required hospital treatment. He returned to hospital in Milan on Wednesday only six days after he was discharged following days of check-ups.
His personal doctor, Alberto Zangrillo, said his lung infection was related to a chronic blood condition that he had borne for some time but that it had not yet become acute. Earlier reports said he had begun chemotherapy to fight the leukaemia.
"He's stable. He's a rock. he's going to make this time too." said his younger brother Paolo Berlusconi earlier.
His return to hospital has caused concern in Italy and politicians from across the spectrum have wished him well. Ms Meloni has wished him a speedy recovery, tweeting the words "Forza Silvio" - "Come on Silvio!", echoing the name of his political party.
His fiancée Marta Fascina, who is an MP in his party, spent the night with him in the hospital and his children visited him on Thursday for a second time.
Reuters
Forza Italia officials said their leader had spoken on Thursday morning to party figures including Mr Tajani and Maurizio Gasparri, vice president of the Senate.
Mr Berlusconi remains a divisive figure in Italian politics. Earlier this year, he was finally cleared of bribing young showgirls to lie about his notoriously raunchy "bunga bunga" parties.
However, both left-leaning and right-leaning newspapers have paid tribute to the charismatic, yet controversial, politician and media tycoon.
Several newspapers have wished him well, while others have highlighted the potential impact of his illness on the country's political landscape.
"Everyone with Silvio" was the main headline in Il Giornale, which belongs to the Berlusconi family, expressing its support and solidarity.
Like the prime minister, Libero, another right-leaning newspaper, opted for "Forza Silvio", while La Repubblica called him the "fearless Knight". The centre-left daily has for decades strongly criticised his political actions and extensively covered the repeated scandals surrounding Mr Berlusconi.
Although his entourage has downplayed the seriousness of his condition, his illness has raised questions about the future of his political party.
Forza Italia may be part of the ruling coalition but it has been in decline in recent years, and Mr Berlusconi's declining health may further weaken its position. When Mr Tajani spoke to reporters, he said there was only one party leader: "Now let's hope he returns to lead the party."
His condition has also revived questions about the future of the Berlusconi business empire, which includes several television channels and publishing companies, making him one of the most influential media moguls in Italy.
His family also owns a minority stake in football club AC Monza, which has climbed from the third tier of Italian football to Serie A during his five-year ownership.
"Warm wishes, dear president, from the whole big red-and-white family," tweeted club president Adriano Galliani.
President Emmanuel Macron met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, and told Xi “I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason.”
The French president, who arrived on Wednesday for a three-day state visit, shook hands with Xi outside the Great Hall of the People, the heart of power in China’s capital.
Xi greeted his guest on a huge red carpet lined by Chinese and French flags as the countries’ national anthems played, an AFP journalist said.
Reuters quotes the French president saying:
The Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to stability. I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason and everyone back to the negotiating table.
Macron has said during his trip that Beijing can play a “major role” in finding a path to peace in the conflict and welcomed China’s “willingness to commit to a resolution”.
He is accompanied on his visit by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, and said he wants to “be a voice that unites Europe” over Ukraine, and that coming to China with her serves to “underline the consistency of this approach”.
Bilateral relations between Sweden and Hungary are at a low point, prime minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás told a media briefing on Thursday, calling on Stockholm to take steps to boost confidence, Reuters reports.
Finland and its neighbour Sweden applied together last year to join Nato, but Sweden’s application has been held up by Nato members Turkey and Hungary. Hungary cites grievances over Swedish criticism of Orbán’s record on democracy and rule of law.
President Emmanuel Macron met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, and told Xi “I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason.”
The French president, who arrived on Wednesday for a three-day state visit, shook hands with Xi outside the Great Hall of the People, the heart of power in China’s capital.
Xi greeted his guest on a huge red carpet lined by Chinese and French flags as the countries’ national anthems played, an AFP journalist said.
Reuters quotes the French president saying:
The Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to stability. I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason and everyone back to the negotiating table.
Macron has said during his trip that Beijing can play a “major role” in finding a path to peace in the conflict and welcomed China’s “willingness to commit to a resolution”.
He is accompanied on his visit by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, and said he wants to “be a voice that unites Europe” over Ukraine, and that coming to China with her serves to “underline the consistency of this approach”.
Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, one of the partly occupied regions which the Russian Federation claims to have annexed, has posted a status update to Telegram.
Pavlo Kyrylenko writes that in Bakhumt, “two civilians were killed and two wounded – the damage to a kindergarten, two private houses and three high-rise buildings was added to the total destruction in the city”.
He also reported that: “There was a massive shelling of Zvanivka in the Lysychansk direction – a school, a cultural centre, a shop and more than 20 private houses were damaged.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
It remains unclear who was behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany which spewed gas into the Baltic last year, Sweden’s prosecution authority, which is investigating the incident, said on Thursday.
“We are working unconditionally and turning over every stone and leaving nothing to chance,” Reuters reports prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said in a statement.
“Our hope is to be able to confirm who has committed this crime, but it should be noted that it likely will be difficult given the circumstances.”
Swedish news site Aftonbladet reported that Ljungqvis also said that the incident had become a focus for political speculation, but that “these speculations are nothing that affects the preliminary investigation, which is based on the facts and information that emerged from analyses, crime scene investigations and cooperation with authorities in Sweden and in other countries”.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, includes this in its daily roundup of news on its official Telegram channel:
At night, Russian troops fired mortars at Bilopillya in Sumy oblast, people in the community were left without electricity.
As a result of Russian shelling yesterday in Donetsk region, five people were killed and nine others were injured. A man who was injured in yesterday’s shelling of Beryslav in the Kherson region died in the hospital.
Overnight news broke that the Russian girl sent to an orphanage after drawing an anti-war sketch at school has been taken from the facility by her mother.
Reuters is carrying quotes from Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova about the situation. It quotes her saying:
Masha did not want to go to her mother at first, and her opinion is legally required to be taken into account. Now her position has changed – she told me this herself on the phone.
Olga has already taken Masha from the social rehabilitation centre. Let’s hope that everything will work out for mum and daughter. I am glad about the beginning of the reunion of daughter and mother.
Lvova-Belova published a picture on her official Telegram which she claimed showed the reunited child and mother.
Associated Press reminds us that, in a case that drew international outrage, the father of 13-year-old Maria Moskalyova was convicted of discrediting the Russian military and handed a two-year prison term, and his daughter was sent to the orphanage.
The father, Alexei Moskalyov, fled house arrest just before his sentencing hearing last week in the town of Yefremov south of Moscow. He was detained in Belarus two days later. His whereabouts are unclear.
Russia introduced severe punishments for discrediting the armed forces after President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on 24 February 2022, laws that have subsequently snared dissidents, journalists, actors, musicians and comedians.
The Hague-based international criminal court (ICC) last month issued an arrest warrant against Putin and Lvova-Belova, accusing them of illegally deporting children from Ukraine and the unlawful transfer of people to Russia from Ukraine.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has issued its daily intelligence briefing on the situation in Ukraine as it sees it. Today the focus has been the reported dismissal of Lt Gen Rustam Muradov. It writes:
As claimed on Russian social media, the Russian MoD has highly likely dismissed Colonel-General Rustam Muradov as commander of the Eastern Group of Forces (EGF) in Ukraine.
The EGF under Muradov has suffered exceptionally heavy casualties in recent months as its poorly conceived assaults repeatedly failed to capture the Donetsk Oblast town of Vuhledar.
The operations attracted intense public criticism from across the spectrum of Russian commentators - including Muradov’s own troops.
Muradov took over the EGF after its disastrous attempt to assault Kyiv from the north-west during the initial full-scale invasion.
He is the most senior Russian military dismissal of 2023 so far, but more are likely as Russia continues to fail to achieve its objectives in the Donbas.
In a further sign that Moscow was unhappy with the state of the fighting, Russian media on Sunday reported the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, had sacked the commander of its eastern military district, Lt Gen Rustam Muradov.
His dismissal represents the latest reshuffle of top brass amid a string of battlefield setbacks. Pro-war bloggers close to the Kremlin linked Muradov’s dismissal with his unsuccessful attempts to capture the town of Vuhledar in Donetsk.
Under Muradov’s command, Russia is believed to have lost more than 100 tanks and armoured personnel carriers in a three-week battle in Vuhledar last month.
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Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports on its official Telegram channel that “during the past day, 5 April, the Russian military shelled civilian infrastructure in the area of 15 settlements of the Zaporizhzhia region”.
The claims have not been independently verified.
The resilience of Russia’s economy over the past year has surprised many observers as Moscow adjusts to unprecedented western sanctions over its assault on Ukraine, AFP reports.
But late last month in a rare public admission, Putin warned of possible economic troubles ahead and urged the government to act quickly.
“The sanctions imposed against the Russian economy in the medium term could really have a negative impact,” Putin said at a televised meeting.
It was a major change of tone after Putin earlier said the worst was over, praising the benefits of “economic sovereignty” and insisting that the west’s sanctions strategy had backfired.
“Mr Putin’s observation is quite simply realistic,” said Arnaud Dubien, director of the Franco-Russian Observatory thinktank in Moscow.
Dubien, a veteran Russia expert, said Putin was seeking to further mobilise companies and government officials as Russia cut ties with the west.
“The situation is better than expected, but do not relax, continue to find alternatives,” he said, describing the Kremlin chief’s logic.
Alexandra Prokopenko, a former Russian central bank official, suggested that Putin’s message primarily targeted companies that have been hit hard by sanctions.
“It’s a message to businesses,” said Prokopenko, who worked at the central bank between 2017 and 2022 and quit after the start of Moscow’s assault on Ukraine.
“You’re only safe in Russia under my charge, there’s no way back,” she said, referring to his possible thinking.
Ukraine has made what the Financial Times calls its “most explicit statement of Ukraine’s interest in negotiations” since cutting off peace talks last year in April, saying that it is willing to discuss the future of Crimea.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Andriy Sybiha, deputy head of Zelenskiy’s office, said: “If we will succeed in achieving our strategic goals on the battlefield and when we will be on the administrative border with Crimea, we are ready to open [a] diplomatic page to discuss this issue.” “It doesn’t mean that we exclude the way of liberation [of Crimea] by our army.”
The FT report continues:
Sybiha’s remarks may relieve western officials who are sceptical about Ukraine’s ability to reclaim the peninsula and worry that any attempt to do so militarily could lead Vladimir Putin to escalate his war, possibly with nuclear weapons. To date, Zelenskiy has ruled out peace talks until Russian forces leave all of Ukraine, including Crimea. Sybiha is a veteran diplomat who focuses on foreign policy in the president’s office and has been at Zelenskiy’s side at key moments in the war. He said the president and his aides were now talking specifically about Crimea, as Ukraine’s army gets closer to launching its counteroffensive to regain territory.
Zelenskiy says Poland may help form a coalition of western powers to supply warplanes to Kyiv.
During a visit to Warsaw on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said Poland had been instrumental in getting western allies to send battle tanks to Ukraine and he believed it could play the same role in a “planes coalition”.
The Polish government said it would send 10 more MiG fighter jets on top of four provided earlier, but so far there has been no agreement from the US or Ukraine’s other major military backers to send the F-16 fighters Kyiv has requested.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, are to make Europe’s case for bringing an end to the conflict in Ukraine at meeting with Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The French and European leaders will be greeted in the late afternoon by the Chinese president at the Great Hall of the People, the heart of power in the capital.
Western pressure is mounting on China to take a more active role in the peace process in Ukraine. Though Beijing is officially neutral, Xi has never condemned the Russian invasion.
While he recently went to Moscow to reaffirm his alliance with Putin – framed as an anti-western front – Xi has not even spoken on the phone with Zelenskiy.
On Wednesday, Macron said Beijing had a “major role” to play in finding a path to peace in Ukraine, welcoming what China called its “willingness to commit to a resolution” to the conflict.
Von der Leyen took a sterner tack last week in Brussels, saying: “How China continues to interact with Putin’s war will be a determining factor for EU-China relations.”
In a Thursday morning meeting at the Great Hall of the People with the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, Macron stressed the importance of dialogue between China and France “in these troubled times”.
“The ability to share a common analysis and build a common path is essential,” he said.
Macron is set to meet the head of China’s top legislative body, Zhao Leji, before a one-on-one meeting with Xi in the afternoon.
The pair will give statements to the press before by a three-way meeting with Von der Leyen and, finally, a state dinner.
The exiled mayor of Melitopol, a Russian-occupied city in the Zaporizhzhia region, says that several explosions had been heard overnight.
“Several powerful explosions have just been recorded in the city,” Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram. That’s as much as we know so far, but we’ll bring you more news as it breaks.
Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Sullivan.
Coming up today: French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen make Europe’s case for bringing an end to the conflict in Ukraine in a Beijing meeting with Xi Jinping.
The French and European leaders will be greeted late afternoon by the Chinese president at the Great Hall of the People, the heart of power in the capital.
And early this morning, explosions were heard in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia region, the Mayor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram.
Poland will send 14 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, Duda said at a joint news conference with Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy thanked the Polish leader, government and people for standing “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine and giving fleeing Ukrainians shelter. Poland has led the way in mobilising western military and political support for Kyiv since the start of Russia’s full-fledged invasion 13 months ago.
France’s president Emmanuel Macron warned that anyone helping “aggressor” Russia in the Ukraine conflict would become an “accomplice”. The French leader arrived in Beijing for a three-day state visit during which he hopes to dissuade Xi Jinping from supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while also developing European trade ties with Beijing.
A Ukrainian drone crashed near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Russia’s RIA news agency said, citing a Russian officer. It comes as the chief of the UN’s nuclear watchdog was expected in Russia for talks on the plant’s security.
The United States, Britain, Albania and Malta walked out on Russia’s envoy for children’s rights – whom the international criminal court wants to arrest on war crimes charges – as she spoke by video to UN security council members.
Zelenskiy has said Ukrainian troops face a difficult situation in the eastern city of Bakhmut, but that Kyiv will take the “corresponding” decisions to protect them if they risk being encircled by Russian forces. The Ukrainian president, at a news conference in Poland on Wednesday, said Kyiv’s troops in Bakhmut sometimes advanced a little only to be pushed back by Russian forces, but that they remained inside the city.
The president of Belarus and close ally of Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, arrived in Moscow for a meeting with the Russian leader, Belarus’s state-run Belta news agency reported. Lukashenko and Putin will hold a meeting on Wednesday evening, where the pair will “discuss a broad range of matters concerning Belarusian-Russian relations”, it said.
The United States is working through a formal process to determine whether a Wall Street Journal reporter’s detention by Russia is “wrongful”, secretary of state Antony Blinken said.
The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus demonstrated that a Russia-China joint statement amounted to just “empty promises”. The Nato chief noted that Russia was becoming more and more dependent on China, partly as a result of international sanctions imposed on Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
Any Chinese supply of lethal aid to Russia for the war in Ukraine would be a “historic mistake with profound implications”, Stoltenberg also said.
The six Leopard 2A4 tanks Spain has promised to send to Ukraine will leave the country in the second half of April, defence minister Margarita Robles told state broadcaster TVE on Wednesday, pushing back the estimated shipment date. The German-made battle tanks have not been used since the 1990s and had been mothballed in reserve, requiring refitting and battle readiness tests after initial doubts as to whether they could go into combat again.
Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been diagnosed with leukaemia after he was admitted to hospital, Sky News understands.
The 86-year-old was being treated in intensive care at Milan's San Raffaele Hospital on Wednesday after suffering breathing problems.
A source said the four-time prime minister had been diagnosed with leukaemia and is in a stable condition.
Image:The intensive care unit at San Raffaele Hospital
"He's stable. He's a rock," Mr Berlusconi's brother Paolo said after visiting him on Wednesday afternoon.
The billionaire media tycoon has suffered several bouts of ill health in recent years, including contracting COVID-19 in 2020.
After being discharged from a 10-day hospital stay, he said the disease had been "insidious" and was the most dangerous challenge he had ever faced.
He has had a pacemaker for years, underwent heart surgery to replace an aortic valve in 2016 and has overcome prostate cancer. He was admitted for a reported urinary tract infection in January 2022.
Mr Berlusconi stepped down as prime minister for the last time in 2011 as Italy came close to a Greece-style debt crisis and he faced several scandals, most notably around his notorious "bunga bunga" parties.
He returned to the Senate after a general election last September.
Image:Mr Berlusconi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
'Forza Silvio'
Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition, but he does not have a role in government.
"Sincere and affectionate wishes for a speedy recovery to Silvio Berlusconi," Ms Meloni wrote on social media, adding: "Forza Silvio (Come on Silvio)."
An Australian man has been charged after allegedly stealing a platypus from the wild, taking it on a train and then showing it off at local shops.
The 26-year-old man was located after police appealed for public help to find the animal - for which they have grave health concerns.
Queensland Police were told the mammal had been released in a nearby river but haven't been able to locate it.
The man could face a fine of up to A$430,000 (£231,700, $288,500).
A woman who was with him has also spoken to police.
Surveillance cameras on Tuesday captured the pair boarding a train at Morayfield, about an hour north of Brisbane, holding the animal wrapped in a towel.
"According to the report that was provided to [authorities], they were showing it off to people on the train, allowing people to pat it," Queensland Police's Scott Knowles said.
Police will also allege in court that the pair were seen showing the animal to members of the public at a nearby shopping centre.
Queensland's environment department had stressed that the platypus was at risk of sickness or death the longer it remained out of its habitat, and urged the pair to take it to a vet.
Police said they were advised the platypus had been released into the Caboolture River, but said they were unsure of its condition.
In a statement, police said it was risky behaviour for both the humans and the animal.
"Taking a platypus from the wild is not only illegal, but it can be dangerous for both the displaced animal and the person involved if the platypus is male as they have venomous spurs," it said.
"If you are lucky enough to see a platypus in the wild, keep your distance. Never pat, hold or take an animal."
The arrested man has been charged with taking an animal classified as protected from the wild and keeping a protected animal captive. He will face court on 8 April.
Famously shy and elusive, platypuses are found in eastern Australia, in freshwater creeks, slow-moving rivers, lakes and dams.
The animals are one of only two types of monotremes - mammals that lay eggs - in the world.
