So far there was “no indication” China has tried to assist Russia with weapons or “other things Russia has wanted” in its war against Ukraine, President Joe Biden told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in an interview to be broadcast Sunday.
Biden additionally stated he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping not lengthy after Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at first of the Beijing Winter Olympics in February, and strongly discouraged the Chinese chief from coming to Russia’s support.
“I said, ‘If you think that Americans and others are going to continue to invest in China based on your violating the sanctions that have been imposed on Russia, I think you’re making a gigantic mistake, but that’s your decision to make,’” Biden told the news show.
In a much-anticipated meeting Thursday, Putin acknowledged China had “questions and considerations” in regards to the battle, which took a dramatic flip final week when Ukraine reclaimed a lot of the territory it had misplaced within the northeast. Xi made no public references to the battle, a potential signal of lukewarm help from his authorities.
TURNING POINT?:As Russia admits defeat in Kharkiv, Ukraine regains land, confidence
Latest developments:
►Ukraine’s first girl, Olena Zelenska, was among the many international dignitaries who appeared at London’s Westminster Hall on Sunday to pay last respects to Queen Elizabeth II.
►Olga Simonova, 34, a Russian lady who was killed preventing for Ukraine within the battle, was honored with a three-gun salute and had her casket draped with the Ukrainian flag at her burial in Kyiv over the weekend. Known as “Simba,” Simonova was 34.
Schools shut in Russian border space
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region ordered schools to operate remotely starting Monday as the Ukraine military’s counteroffensive pushed closer to the border.
Vyacheslav Gladkov said Sunday that scores of homes and recreation areas have been damaged by Ukraine artillery.
The U.S. sent long-range artillery to Ukraine with a condition that it not be used to bomb Russian cities and towns. But Ukraine troops have pushed close enough to the Russian border to reach those towns with their own equipment.
“I made a decision that from tomorrow, faculties within the Belgorod district in a 10-kilometer zone alongside the border shall be transferred to distance studying,” Gladkov said in a VK social media post.
The post drew numerous responses from locals urging Gladkov to create a volunteer battalion to provide protection, including mining the border.
“Why did different areas of the nation start ‘self-mobilization,’ whereas our area, frequently shelled, having the most important border with the enemy, hesitates?” wrote Andrey Rozenberg. “Self-defense detachments have to be created.”
Discovery of Russian tools of torture prompts investigation
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated greater than 10 “torture chambers” have been discovered within the Kharkiv area since a counterattack prompted Russian forces to rapidly retreat final week.
The area’s prosecutor’s workplace stated on Telegram that it has launched an investigation after seizing tools of torture and paperwork indicating the Russians had established a police pressure that operated a jail the place the alleged abuse happened.
Russian forces have been accused of committing atrocities and battle crimes at a number of levels of the battle, most notably within the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. Reports of these ways horrified the world and galvanized help for Ukraine. Last week, officers stated they discovered greater than 440 graves outdoors the Kharkiv metropolis of Izium with our bodies that confirmed indicators of violent deaths.
Zelenskyy stated Saturday evening that “a room for torture and tools for electric torture” were found at the railway station in the Kharkiv town of Kozacha Lopan, and he compared the Russians to the Nazis during World War II.
“And they will answer in the same way,” he said, “both on the battlefields and in the courtrooms.”
Pope’s envoy shot at in Ukraine
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, an envoy of Pope Francis, was shot at Saturday as he delivered humanitarian aid in Pope Francis’ name near the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the Vatican said. Krajewski emerged “unscathed and persevering with his mission,” the Vatican News Service reported.
Krajewski’s group, which included a Catholic bishop, a Protestant bishop and a Ukrainian soldier, came under light arms fire while doing their work outside Zaporizhzhia and sought cover, he said. They escaped unharmed.
The incident took place on the ninth anniversary of Krajewski’s bishop ordination on Sept. 17, 2013, in St. Peter’s Basilica during a ceremony attended by Pope Francis. The cardinal said he and his group had loaded a minibus with provisions and driven to the front lines – where “no one besides soldiers enter anymore” because of the heavy fighting — when the firing began.
“For the first time in my life, I didn’t know where to run,” he told Vatican News. “It’s not enough to run. You have to know where to go.”
Ultimately, the shooting stopped and the group continued to deliver aid.
Russian singer asks to be added to international agent listing
Hugely popular Russian singer Alla Pugacheva said Sunday that she wants to be placed on Russia’s foreign agents list in solidarity with her husband. Her post on Instagram comes after Pugacheva’s husband, singer and TV presenter Maxim Galkin, was added to the foreign agents register on Saturday by the justice ministry. Galkin, who has criticized Russia for sending troops into Ukraine, is accused of conducting political activities on behalf of Ukraine and receiving Ukrainian funding. Galkin responded that he made money in Ukraine at a comedy show years ago.
“The rationale for the choice is that I allegedly obtain funds from Ukraine, with which I do political actions,” he said on Instagram. “First of all, I don’t do political actions. On stage at my live shows, I do humor and political satire, as I’ve for 28 years.”
Contributing: The Associated Press