West should take China's peace proposal for Ukraine seriously, Putin says
While Xi wraps up 1st visit to Russia, Japanese PM makes 1st trip to Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that China's peace proposals could be used as the basis for settling the conflict in Ukraine when Kyiv and its Western allies are ready, the RIA news agency reported.
Putin admitted that was unlikely to happen anytime soon, deriding the U.S. and Ukraine's allies for supporting the war "to the last Ukrainian," Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported.
Putin said the talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping had been "successful and constructive," with China and Russia signing agreements on strategic co-operation. Russian energy supplies to China would increase, he said.
The two leaders said they spoke extensively about Beijing's peace proposals during a one-on-one meeting.
Xi for his part said that Beijing had an "impartial position" on the conflict in Ukraine and that it supported peace and dialogue.
China has refrained from condemning Russia or referring to Moscow's intervention in its neighbour as an "invasion." It has also criticized Western sanctions on Russia.
Unclear if Xi will speak with Ukraine about proposal
Xi's visit is a boost to Moscow as it struggles to make ground in its year-long war on Ukraine. But China was criticized by Washington as providing "diplomatic cover" for Putin and for the war crimes his forces are accused of committing there.
China's proposal for Ukraine sets out some general principles in a 12-point plan but contains no details on how to end the war, now in its 13th month.
The proposal has been largely dismissed in the West as a ploy to buy Putin time. Ukrainian and Western officials fear any ceasefire would merely freeze the front lines, handing Russia an advantage as it struggles to make headway following a serious of setbacks.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Xi's visit suggested that "China feels no responsibility to hold the Kremlin accountable for the atrocities committed in Ukraine."
It was not clear if and when exactly Xi would talk to Zelenskyy.
Japanese PM honours Bucha war casualties
In a trip pointedly coinciding with Xi's Moscow talks, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday to deliver a message of solidarity and support for Ukraine.
Kishida had been the only leader of the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations who had not visited Ukraine. He toured the town of Bucha, where the mayor has said more than 400 civilians were killed last year by Russian forces, and laid a wreath outside a church before observing a moment of silence and bowing.
"The world was astonished to see innocent civilians in Bucha killed one year ago. I really feel great anger at the atrocity upon visiting that very place here," Kishida said.
Japan is due to host a G7 summit in Hiroshima in May. Tokyo has continually voiced support for Ukraine and joined other G7 countries in extending sanctions against Russia.
Japan, a key ally of the United States, has its own territorial dispute with Moscow that dates back to the end of the Second World War. Russia's invasion has also deepened concern in Tokyo and among the Japanese public about what would happen to Japan if China were to invade Taiwan.
Encouraged by the United States, Japan in December unveiled its biggest military build-up since the Second World War, with a commitment to double defence spending to two per cent of GDP within five years, a similar target that NATO countries are trying to reach.
Airstrikes continue
In other developments, Ukraine's Defence Ministry said an explosion in Dzhankoi in the north of the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula destroyed Russian cruise missiles intended for use by Russia's Black Sea fleet.
On the battlefields in eastern Ukraine, Russia kept up air raids as well as missile and rocket strikes over a wide area, the Ukrainian military said.
Ukraine said Russia's main aim was to reach the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the Donbas, large areas of which are already under Russian control.
Russian forces had again made attacks on the city of Bakhmut — site of the longest and bloodiest battle of the war — and other targets but had been repelled, it said.
Constant mortar fire
In the town of Chasiv Yar, just west of Bakhmut, and the nearby village of Kalynivka in eastern Ukraine, there was heavy artillery fire from nearby Ukrainian positions as well as incoming impacts.
Between apartment blocks in central Chasiv Yar, mainly elderly residents queued for water and food delivered by a team from the State Emergency Service.
Oleksii Stepanov, speaking in the town of Kostyantinivka, said he had been in Bakhmut until five days ago but was evacuated by the military when his house was destroyed by a missile.
"We were in the kitchen and the missile came through the roof. The kitchen was all that was left standing," said the 54-year-old.
Claim of missiles destroyed
Ukraine's Defence Ministry said an explosion in Dzhankoi city in Crimea destroyed Russian Kalibr-KN cruise missiles as they were being transported by rail.
A ministry statement said the missiles, designed to be launched from surface ships in Russia's Black Sea fleet, had an operational range of more than 2,500 kilometres on land and 375 kilometres at sea. It stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attack.
Russian-installed officials in Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014, said the blast was caused by drones laced with shrapnel and explosives and targeted civilian sites. One person was injured.
Reuters was unable to independently verify either the Ukrainian or the Russian reports. A Russian military airbase is located near Dzhankoi.