2023-04-28 23:44:49
The territorial integrity of Ukraine, the return of prisoners and the return of around 20,000 “kidnapped” children. These are the topics discussed by the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and the Chinese president Xi Jinping in their phone call two days ago. Zelensky revealed further details of his conversation with the Chinese leader, the first since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
During the phone call, Zelensky and Xi talked about Ukraine’s territorial integrity “including the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia” and the UN Charter, the Ukrainian president said at a news conference in Kyiv. “We felt China’s respect for our requests”, he added, clarifying that there was no talk of reciprocal visits with Beijing.
Zelensky went on to say that he also asked Xi to try to convince Moscow regarding the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war and some 20,000 “kidnapped children”. “I say it openly – he added – At the moment only Ukraine is helping Ukraine with the return of our children. There have been efforts by the United Nations, but to little avail.”
COUNTER OFFENSIVE – Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has warned against viewing Kiev’s expected counter-offensive as a “decisive battle” that will end the war. “The counteroffensive should not be regarded as a decisive battle. The decisive battle will be the one that will lead to the complete liberation of the Ukrainian territories. We will be able to draw this conclusion at the end, not at the beginning of the battle,” said Kuleba, quoted by Interfax-Ukraine , after other government officials urged not to exaggerate expectations.
“If only one counter-offensive is needed, then it will be one, if two or more are needed, so it will be. It is not a conflict that we can freeze”, said Kuleba again, underlining that Ukraine will fight until victory.
KIEV-PRAGUE: ARMS DEAL – Ukraine and the Czech Republic will jointly produce ammunition, weapons, tank repair, as well as work on the potential production of training aircraft. This was stated by the President of the Czech Republic Peter Pavel at a joint press conference in Kiev with the presidents of Ukraine and Slovakia, Zelensky and Zuzana Chaputova.
“We have prepared 6 key projects of joint production with Ukrainian and Czech companies – announced the Czech president – As for the specific projects, they concern the production of ammunition, small arms, the repair of tanks, such as the T-62, as well as the potential production of training aircraft. For us, the transfer of technologies and production is a priority because we want it to be carried out on the territory of Ukraine”.
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