Vladimir Putin praised ties between the Russian and Chinese armed forces, while Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu told the Kremlin leader that Beijing was willing to “further strengthen strategic communication between the two militaries”.

Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting in Japan said they remained committed to “intensifying, fully coordinating and enforcing sanctions against Russia, as well as to continuing strong support for Ukraine.” 

Key developments

• Ukraine grain snarled again with blockages now on two fronts
• Lula, Russia’s Lavrov to discuss Ukraine in visit to Brazil
• China tensions high on agenda as G7 diplomats meet in Japan
• Russian oil gets switched at sea between tankers near Cape Verde
• Putin meets China’s defence minister, praises military ties

Zelensky urges solid decisions on weapons from allies  

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expected a meeting this week of allied defence secretaries to produce solid decisions on his country’s “rather ambitious” battlefield plans.

Zelensky said in his regular evening address that he’s already had initial talks ahead of the meeting of Ukraine’s allies at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

US ambassador visits WSJ reporter Gershkovich in Russian prison  

Lynne Tracy, the US ambassador to Russia, visited Evan Gershkovich more than 2½ weeks after his arrest, the US Embassy in Moscow said. The Biden administration had complained that Russia was violating diplomatic norms by refusing to provide Gershkovich with consular access. 

Gershkovich (31) was detained in Yekaterinburg, about 1,400km east of Moscow, by Federal Security Service agents. Charged with spying, which carries a 20-year penalty, he’s now being held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison. The Kremlin says he was caught “red-handed”, but has provided no evidence. The Wall Street Journal denies the allegations.

Russia seeks to limit rouble hit amid exodus of foreign firms  

Russia is seeking a way to curb the impact of a foreign investor exodus on the rouble, which has fallen to a one-year low. A series of asset sales by firms from countries opposed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has helped weaken the rouble by 9% against the dollar this year. 

In reaction, the Bank of Russia and the government are developing a mechanism to set a limit for hard-currency purchases by foreign companies exiting Russia, the Finance Ministry said. The cap can be floating and depend on the situation on the market, the ministry’s press service said in its response to questions from Bloomberg News. 

Ukraine says Russia blocked grain ship inspections  

On Monday, for the second time in the nine months that the Ukraine grain initiative has been in effect, not a single vessel was inspected, according to a Ukrainian government statement. Since April 10, Russia, as a part of the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, has unilaterally stopped registering vessels that Ukrainian ports submit to form an inspection plan. 

“Meanwhile, the Russians form their own inspection plan by choosing the vessels from the queue at their discretion, which completely contradicts the terms of the initiative and is unacceptable for Ukraine,” the government said. Ukraine has called on the UN and Turkey to ensure that “all parties in the JCC comply with the procedures that have worked for nine months”. 

G7 nuclear powers aim to remove Russia from uranium market  

Nuclear powers within the G7 pledged to end Russia’s dominance over global atomic-fuel markets, potentially cutting off a critical source of geopolitical currency for Putin more than a year after his invasion of Ukraine. 

Canada, France, Japan, the UK and the US committed on Sunday to jointly dislodge Russia from global nuclear supply chains. Even amid Western sanctions over the war, the Kremlin’s state-owned nuclear giant, Rosatom, has remained the world’s biggest exporter of reactors and fuel. 

Read more: Nuclear powers pledge to push Putin out of uranium markets

Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza jailed for 25 years

Russia sentenced a prominent Putin critic to 25 years in prison in the harshest sentence yet handed down to an opposition activist, prompting a call from Latvia’s foreign minister for new sanctions on the Kremlin.

Vladimir Kara-Murza (41), a persistent campaigner against Putin’s rule who has condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine, was found guilty by a Moscow court of treason and other charges for criticising the invasion, Russian news services reported.

His sentence is by far the longest handed down in the Kremlin’s crackdown on opponents, which has sharply accelerated since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A lawyer for Kara-Murza, who holds both Russian and British citizenship, vowed to appeal, according to the state-run Tass news service. 

Slovakia halts Ukrainian grain imports 

Slovakia is temporarily banning imports of Ukrainian grain, following moves by Poland and Hungary to block shipments over concerns they’re hurting their domestic markets.

Read more: EU says Poland, Hungary halts on Ukraine grain ‘unacceptable’

The bans by the three eastern European Union nations underscore splinters in the bloc’s efforts to support Ukraine. Member states have voiced dissent over issues including arming Kyiv, banning Russian energy imports and helping the war-ravaged country to export food that helps feed millions in developing nations.

Ukraine starts filling underground gas storage 

Ukraine has begun pumping natural gas into the country’s underground storage facilities, state transit operator Ukrtransgaz said in a statement.

Despite Russia’s full-scale invasion, the nation’s storage facilities operated without interruption through the 2022-23 winter, Ukrtransgaz said. Since last October, about 5.6 billion cubic metres were withdrawn from storage, slightly less than during the same period a year earlier due to the relatively warmer weather.

G7 ministers target sanctions evasion 

G7 foreign ministers “underscored that Russia must withdraw all forces and equipment from Ukraine immediately and unconditionally”, Japan’s foreign ministry said in a statement following talks among chief diplomats in Karuizawa. 

The ministers also agreed to reinforce “coordination to prevent and respond to evasion of sanctions as well as third-party weapon supply to Russia”.

More Slovakian fighter jets reach Ukraine 

Slovakia has handed over the remaining nine Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets it pledged to Ukraine, taking the total to 13, according to Slovak Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad. 

“This transfer was carried out by land with the utmost safety in mind,” Nad said in an emailed statement. Slovakia last month approved sending its entire fleet of Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine to bolster its defence against Russia’s invasion.

Heavy fighting continues in Bakhmut  

Heavy fighting continued in the eastern cities of Bakhmut and Mariyinka, where Ukrainian defenders repelled more than 60 enemy attacks during the day, while Russian forces launched 25 missile strikes on the Zaporizhzhia and Mykolayiv regions, according to the country’s General Staff.

Mine-related civilian casualties continue to be reported on a daily basis, with the Kherson and Kharkiv regions the most affected areas, the UK defence ministry said in its latest intelligence update. “With the arrival of spring, and more people involved in agricultural activities, the risk of civilian mine incidents will increase,” the ministry said.  

Ukrainian-Iraqi talks planned in Baghdad  

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba visited Baghdad on Monday for talks with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and other senior Iraqi officials, according to a statement from the government in Kyiv.

Baghdad is exploring a potential role as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine in the almost 14-month-old war, Iraq’s Shafaq news agency reported on Sunday, citing a person close to the government it didn’t identify. DM