China will send a special envoy to Kyiv on Monday, marking the first high-level visit from the Chinese government since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine last year.
China’s envoy for Eurasian Affairs, Li Hui, will also visit Poland, France, Germany and Russia on the trip, the foreign ministry said Friday. He was appointed last month after Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first call to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy since the start of the war.
European Union foreign ministers meeting in Stockholm on Friday will discuss the situation in Ukraine as well as how the war is affecting the bloc’s ties to China. China’s relationship with the EU will be “critically affected” if Beijing does not push Russia to withdraw from Ukraine, according to a draft paper by the EU’s foreign policy arm seen by Bloomberg that will be discussed at the meeting.
Key Developments
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- Ukraine Crop-Deal Talks End With Pact Extension Still in Doubt
(All times CET)
Pope Could Meet With Zelenskiy This Weekend (9:48 a.m.)
A Vatican official said Pope Francis could meet with Zelenskiy this weekend, according to the Associated Press.
Francis has called for an end to the war and expressed solidarity with the Ukrainians.
Zelenskiy was expected in Germany starting Saturday evening. Italian media, citing unnamed sources, reported Thursday that he might be in Rome earlier that day to meet with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the pope.
A meeting with the pontiff “is a possibility,” the Vatican official told the AP on the condition of anonymity.
Russia Says Grain Deal to End If No Guarantees by May 18: Tass (9:48 a.m.)
The Black Sea initiative that’s allowed Ukraine to export millions of tons of grain and other foodstuffs will end unless Russia receives guarantees by May 18 that its demands will be met, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said after talks in Istanbul, according to Tass.
Russia is against constant extensions of the Black Sea grain deal and insists that agreements with the Russian side, which center on Moscow’s own grain and fertilizer shipments, haven’t been fulfilled.
No decision has been made on a new meeting about the deal at the deputy minister level after this week’s discussions.
