TOP HEADLINES

• China will send a delegation to Ukraine to assess the situation and has offered to facilitate peace talks with Russia, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing confirmed. The news came in a media conference following a phone call between President Xi Jinping and Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday.

• China will focus on promoting peace talks, and make efforts for a ceasefire as soon as possible, Xi told Zelenskyy, according to the report from CCTV. A foreign ministry spokesperson said the call illustrates China's 'objective and impartial position' on international affairs.

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has blamed the West for a deadlock over the future of a Black Sea grain deal. Moscow has seen "practically no results" from the pact for its grain and fertilizer exports, he said.

• Three Russian military aircraft flying without transponder signals have been intercepted in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, Germany's Luftwaffe said on Wednesday.

• Lavrov added that there would be a reaction from Russia to the letter sent to Russian President Putin by U.N. chief Guterres about the grain deal. Lavrov was addressing the United Nations Security Council as its chair, with Russia holding its presidency for one month. 

• Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticized the Russia-Ukraine conflict while on a visit to Spain but said no one is talking about peace in what he called an "insane war." 

• Ukraine is working with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and American companies to collect evidence of war crimes such as geolocation and cellphone information against Russia, senior officials said on Tuesday. 

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IN DEPTH

Zelenskyy hails "long and meaningful" phone call with Xi Jinping

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the phone on Wednesday, Beijing and Kyiv said.

"I had a long and meaningful phone call with President Xi Jinping," Zelenskyy said on Twitter. "I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine's ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations," he wrote.

Zelenskyy's spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov said on Facebook that the two had "an almost one hour-long telephone conversation."

Chinese broadcaster CCTV reported that during the call Xi told Zelenskyy "talks and negotiation" were the "only way out" of the conflict. "On the issue of the Ukraine crisis, China has always stood on the side of peace and its core position is to promote peace talks," CCTV reported Xi as saying.

According to a readout of the call, Xi said China "will neither watch the fire from the other side, nor add fuel to the fire, let alone take advantage of the crisis to profit."

"When dealing with the nuclear issue, all parties concerned should remain calm and restrained, truly focus on the future and destiny of themselves and all mankind, and jointly manage and control the crisis," Xi said.

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