A senior European official announced today, Thursday, that he had called on Beijing to put pressure on Moscow over the war in Ukraine, while Kyiv warned of a new wave of missile strikes that Russia would launch across the country.

European Council President Charles Michel said he had urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to use his influence to pressure Russia to respect the UN charter with regard to Ukraine.

So far, China, the large nuclear power, has taken a mediating position regarding Russia's war on Ukraine, as it directed some criticism at it, but at the same time it did not join the list of countries that imposed sanctions on Moscow.

Earlier, EU foreign policy commissioner Josep Borrell accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine by destroying civilian infrastructure there.

In a briefing on the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meeting held in Poland, Borrell said that the European Union supports the establishment of a special court for what he described as war crimes in Ukraine.

Borrell stressed that Russia must pay the cost of rebuilding Ukraine, stressing that the European Union is discussing legal ways to use the frozen Russian funds for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

He also announced that the European Union is seeking to formulate a new security order in Europe.

🇷🇺🇪🇺Lavrov: Borell repeats as a mantra: "This conflict must end with Ukraine's victory on the battlefield," this is a European diplomat.

"(OSCE) provides Kiev regime with intelligence to correct strikes on Lugansk and Donetsk Republics, West Russia" pic.twitter.com/NfBPsE0lvS

— AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 (@AZgeopolitics) December 1, 2022

Lavrov accuses the West

On the other hand, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the United States of representing an existential threat to Russia from Ukraine.

Lavrov said, in a press conference in Moscow, that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has become a marginal entity, and accused Poland, which currently holds the presidency of the organization, of being the one who harmed the organization the most, according to him.

On the other hand, Lavrov said that Moscow would be ready to listen to the West's proposals when the West realizes that it is better to coexist on agreed upon bases.

This coincides with the hosting of the Polish city of Łódź, the annual meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with the participation of foreign ministers from 57 countries.

The meeting will discuss the developments of the war in Ukraine, and the challenges facing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in light of the security and geopolitical changes imposed by Russia's war on Ukraine.


A comprehensive Ukrainian warning

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials warned that Russia is preparing today, Thursday, to launch a new wave of strikes with missiles and drones.

The country's border service wrote on the messaging app Telegram: "A comprehensive alert of air raids in Ukraine ... go to the shelters."

Prior to that, the Ukrainian army confirmed the continuation of the Russian bombing of Kherson, Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv and Dnipro provinces in the south of the country.

The Ukrainian army said that the Russians carried out during the past hours 41 air raids and 28 shelling from a missile system on the positions of Ukrainian forces and populated areas in Kherson.

He added that his forces had monitored the withdrawal of Russian forces from certain locations in the Kherson region as well.

He also confirmed the continued Russian shelling of the Ochakov district of Mykolaiv and several seam villages in Zaporizhia and Dnipro.