• 8:30 a.m.: Xi Jinping to visit Russia next week

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia next week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

"At the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Russia from March 20 to 22," the ministry said in a statement, without elaborating.

The two leaders met in September on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan.

For their first meeting since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, they had shown their willingness to support each other and strengthen their ties in the midst of the crisis with the West.

A few months earlier, the Russian president had visited the Winter Olympics in Beijing. Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin then proclaimed their friendship "without limit".

China essentially presents itself as a neutral party in the war in Ukraine but in recent months has strengthened its ties with Moscow.

Beijing last month issued a 12-point document urging Moscow and Kiev to hold peace talks. The text also opposes any use of nuclear weapons and calls for respect for the territorial integrity of all countries – including that of Ukraine, part of whose territory is under Russian control.

  • 8:15 a.m.: Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping to discuss deepening "strategic cooperation" in Moscow, Kremlin says

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will discuss "deepening" their "strategic cooperation" during a visit next week by the Chinese president to Russia, the Kremlin said.

During the visit, which will take place from March 20 to 22, the two leaders "will discuss deepening the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between Russia and China," including "in the international arena," the Kremlin said in a statement, adding that "important bilateral documents will be signed."

  • 6 a.m.: Poland to supply Kiev with MiG-29 fighters, a first for NATO

Poland will deliver a first batch of four MiG-29 fighter-bombers to Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced Thursday, which will be the first such delivery by a NATO member.

"In the coming days, we will first transfer (...) four fully operational aircraft in Ukraine," Andrzej Duda told reporters.

01:28

Kiev has repeatedly asked its Western allies to send it modern fighter-bombers, hoping to get American F-16s.

The Polish decision "does not change anything" to the American refusal to do the same, assured shortly after John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House.

With AFP and Reuters

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