China’s Xi says he will send representatives to Ukraine, hold talks on crisis

BEIJING, April 26 (Reuters) – China will send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties on resolving the crisis there, President Xi Jinping told his Ukrainian counterpart on Wednesday, Chinese state media reported.

Xi made the remarks during a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, state broadcaster CCTV said.

China will focus on promoting peace talks, and make efforts for a ceasefire as soon as possible, Xi told Zelenskiy, according to the report.

Xi said in early April he was willing to speak with Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy had repeatedly asked Xi to meet him, including after the Chinese leader visited Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last month.

In Other Developments:

DIPLOMACY

* Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that it noted China’s willingness to engage in a peace process for Ukraine, after Xi held a call with his Ukrainian counterpart Zelenskiy.

* Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday called again for a “peace group” to broker an agreement between Russia and Ukraine, saying anything could be discussed once the nations sat down to talk peace.

ECONOMY

* The Kremlin warned on Wednesday it could seize more Western assets in retaliation for foreign moves against Russian companies, after taking temporary control of assets belonging to Finland’s Fortum and Germany’s Uniper.

* The United States gave JPMorgan Chase & Co permission to process payments for the Russian Agricultural Bank, but the temporary arrangement was no substitute for reconnecting the bank to the SWIFT payment system, a Russian source told Reuters.

* Russia’s envoy to the United Nations in Geneva said on Wednesday that no real progress had been achieved in resolving issues raised by Moscow over the Black Sea grain deal, which is set to expire next month.

FIGHTING

* The head of Russia’s private Wagner militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Ukraine was preparing for an “inevitable” counter-offensive and was sending well-prepared units to the devastated eastern city of Bakhmut, for many months the focal point of fighting.

* Ukraine marked the 37th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster on Wednesday by urging the world not to bow to Russian “blackmail” over nuclear facilities it has seized during its invasion.

* Zelenskiy said Russian forces hit a museum in the eastern city of Kupiansk on Tuesday, killing two women and burying others under rubble.

* The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in its daily update on Wednesday that Russian forces were focusing on Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Maryinka and that Ukraine’s defence forces have repelled 39 attacks on the eastern front in the past day.