China calls all sides to seek a way for peace in Ukraine

"China always stood on the side of peace on the Ukraine issue," said Yu Jun, Deputy Head of the Foreign Ministry's Eurasian department, during a news conference in Beijing.

"It is hoped that all sides will reflect on the Ukraine crisis and seek a new way for everlasting peace in Europe together," he added.

During their phone call, Xi told Zelenskiy that China would send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties seeking peace, Chinese state media reported.

Xi, the most powerful world leader to have refrained from denouncing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, made a state visit to Russia last month. Since February, he has promoted a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine, greeted with scepticism from the West but cautiously welcomed by Kyiv.

China will focus on promoting peace talks, and make efforts for a ceasefire as soon as possible, Xi told Zelenskiy, according to the Chinese state media reports.

Following the call, Zelenskiy immediately signalled the importance of the chance to open closer relations with Russia's most powerful friend, naming a former cabinet minister as Ukraine's new ambassador to Beijing.

Zelenskiy: China represents an 'opportunity' in the peace process

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday China represented an opportunity to reinforce "the rules that peace should be built upon', after speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the phone.

"Ukraine and China, like the absolute majority of the world, are equally interested in the strength of the sovereignty of nations and territorial integrity," Zelenskiy said in an evening video address.

The two leaders spoke on Wednesday for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, fulfilling a longstanding goal of Kyiv which had publicly sought such talks for months.

Zelenskiy also said Xi had expressed "words of support" for the extension of a deal to export Ukrainian grain from its Black Sea ports. Moscow has said the pact will not be renewed beyond May 18 unless the West removes obstacles to Russian grain and fertilizer exports.

Xi, the most powerful leader to have refrained from denouncing Russia's invasion, visited Moscow last month. Since February, he has promoted a 12-point peace plan, greeted sceptically by the West but cautiously welcomed by Kyiv as a sign of Chinese interest in ending the war.

China will focus on promoting peace talks, and make efforts for a ceasefire as soon as possible, Xi told Zelenskiy, according to the Chinese state media reports.

Russian envoy says no breakthrough on Black Sea grain deal

Russia's envoy to the United Nations in Geneva said on Wednesday that no real progress had been achieved in resolving issues raised by Moscow over the Black Sea grain deal, which is set to expire next month.

Russia has signalled that unless a list of demands is met to remove obstacles to Russia's grain and fertilizer exports, it will not agree to extend a related deal beyond May 18 that allows the safe wartime export of grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports.

"As of today, we regret to say that no real progress was reached in resolving this problem," said Russian envoy Gennady Gatilov told reporters at the Russian permanent mission in Geneva.

The Black Sea grain initiative, brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aimed to prevent a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blockaded by Russia's invasion to be safe from three Ukrainian ports.

Russia has argued that, although the country's agricultural exports have not been explicitly targeted by Western restrictions, sanctions on its payments, logistics and insurance industries have created a barrier to it being able to export its grains and fertilisers.

"The Ukrainian part of the deal is working well," Gatilov said. "But the Russian part of this deal is not working and these two parts should be equal. This is not the case."

One of Russia's key demands in a negotiation over the future of the Black Sea grain deal is the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the SWIFT payments system.

Gatilov said the bank should be fully reconnected to the system and not be subjected to "case-by-case" decisions on the lender's ability to carry out transactions.

Reuters cited a Russian source as saying earlier on Wednesday that the United States had given JPMorgan Chase & Co permission to process payments for the Russian Agricultural Bank but that the arrangement was no substitute for reconnecting the bank to SWIFT.

Russia is considering Guterres's letter on grain deal - Kremlin

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that a letter sent by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to President Vladimir Putin about the Black Sea grain deal had been passed on via diplomatic channels and was being considered.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had sent a letter to President Vladimir Putin regarding the Black Sea grain deal and that there would be a reaction in due course.

A pact between Moscow and the United Nations for Russia's grain and fertiliser exports is not being fulfilled and there are "lots of details" to be discussed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday, said Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

The deal was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to help tackle a global food crisis that UN officials said had been worsened by Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

To help persuade Russia to allow Ukraine to resume Black Sea grain exports, a separate three-year pact was also struck in July in which the UN agreed to help Russia export food and fertiliser.

During a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, Guterres urged the continued implementation of both deals.

Kremlin: seizure of Western assets is a retaliatory move, could be expanded

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Moscow's move to take temporary control of the assets of Finnish energy group Fortum and its former German subsidiary Uniper was in retaliation for what it called the illegal seizure of Russian assets abroad.

President Vladimir Putin late on Tuesday signed a decree establishing temporary control of the Russian assets of the two European state-owned energy firms.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the decree did not concern ownership, just the power to manage the assets. He said the measure could be expanded to other assets if necessary.

"The decree adopted is a response to the aggressive actions of unfriendly countries," Peskov said. "This initiative mirrors the attitude of Western governments towards foreign assets of Russian companies."

Putin's decree "does not deal with property issues and does not deprive the owners of their assets because the external management is temporary and only means that the original owner no longer has the right to make management decisions," he said.

Peskov added, without elaborating, that there were "several other nuances."

The list of enterprises taken under external control "can of course be expanded," Peskov said.

"The main purpose of the decree is to form a compensation fund for the possible application of reciprocal measures in response to the illegal expropriation of Russian assets abroad," he said.

Reuters