(Reuters) – March 21 (Reuters) – “Dear friends” Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were due to hold further talks on Tuesday amid Western criticism that Xi’s visit was giving a boost to Moscow as it struggles to make ground in its year-long war on Ukraine.
RUSSIA-CHINA
* The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Putin and Xi had held a “thorough” exchange of views during their first day of talks and had discussed China’s peace plan for Ukraine, without elaborating.
* Ukraine is waiting to hear if a call will take place between its President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Xi, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in an interview published on Tuesday.
* Xi is the first world leader to meet Putin since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader on Friday over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia since the start of the war.
DIPLOMACY
* Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will visit Kyiv for talks with Zelenskiy, Japan’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday, with broadcaster NHK showing Kishida boarding a train at the Polish border town of Przemysl.
* Iran is ready to expand its cooperation with Russia in the energy sector, including in the development of “peaceful” nuclear energy, Iranian Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi said in an interview with Russia’s RIA state news agency.
* Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened a counter-case against the ICC prosecutor and judges, arguing there were no grounds for criminal liability on Putin’s part and heads of state enjoyed immunity.
* European Union countries agreed to give 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine over the next year by digging into their own stockpiles and teaming up to buy more.
* U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was authorizing further $350 million in military aid for Ukraine.
FIGHTING
* Two Russian strategic bomber planes flew over the Sea of Japan for more than seven hours, the Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday in a statement released as Japan’s prime minister was beginning a visit to Ukraine.
* Ukraine’s defense ministry said that an explosion in Dzhankoi in the north of the Crimean peninsula destroyed Russian cruise missiles intended for use by Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
* Fierce fighting continued in the eastern town of Bakhmut with each side launching counter offensives.
RECENT IN-DEPTH REPORTING
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* ANALYSIS-Patchwork fixes to Ukraine grain shortfall leave world vulnerable a year into war
(Compiled by Reuters editors)
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