| A long-awaited call between Zelensky and Xi |
| Xi Jinping, the leader of China, spoke with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine yesterday in a one-hour telephone call, the first known contact between the two leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Zelensky had made repeated requests to talk to the Chinese leader. |
| China’s official account of the discussion was notable for its omission of two words: “Russia” and “war.” It referred instead to the need for a “political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,” and warned of the danger of nuclear escalation. Zelensky described the call as “long and meaningful.” |
| In recent months, Xi has been trying to burnish his image as a global statesman by helping restore diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran and by rolling out the red carpet in Beijing for visiting world leaders like President Emmanuel Macron of France. In February, China released a 12-point plan laying out a path to ending the war. |
| Response: The Biden administration welcomed the call as “a good thing.” But whether it is “going to lead to some sort of meaningful peace movement, or plan, or proposal — I just don’t think we know that right now,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council. |
| Dynamics: China has grown particularly close with Russia, and it shares the Kremlin’s goal of upending a world order dominated by the U.S. and its allies. American officials have said they believe Beijing has seriously considered sending military aid to Moscow for its war in Ukraine. |
| In other news from the war in Ukraine: |
| Aleksei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition leader, said that Russian authorities had initiated “absurd” new terrorism charges against him that could lead to life in prison.Nearly all the combat vehicles promised by Ukraine’s Western allies have arrived in the country, NATO’s top military commander said.Leaked documents suggested Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, might have been undergoing chemotherapy, although no evidence has emerged to support that. |
