Washington comments on the phone call between Zelenskyy and Xi.
A former NATO general talks about the possible counter-offensive.
The news ticker on the Ukraine war.
First phone call
since
the beginning of the war
: China's President Xi and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy call
Nuclear weapons
in
Belarus
: Russia has trained Belarusian armed forces on tactical nuclear weapons.
The processed information on the losses of the armies involved in the
Ukraine war
comes partly from the warring parties from Russia or Ukraine.
They can therefore not be independently checked in part.
Update from April 26, 7:35 p.m .:
The USA welcomes the telephone conversation between Volodymyr Zelenskyj and Xi Jinping, but also asked whether it will lead to a “meaningful peace movement”, as reported by
CNN
.
According to John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, China must position itself more clearly on the Ukraine war anyway.
Kirby reiterated that any peace plan "will only be sustainable or credible if Ukrainians and President Zelenskyy are personally involved and support it."
+
John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.
(archive photo)
© Susan Walsh/AP/dpa
Ukraine war: Former NATO general shares assessment of possible counter-offensive
Update from April 26, 5:55 p.m .:
The Dnieper River has been the front line since the Russian units withdrew from the southern Ukrainian region of Cherson last year.
The Russian positions are on the east bank of the river.
The Ukrainian soldiers now sighted on the east side of the Dnieper River are reconnaissance forces, said former NATO General Erhard Bühler in his widely acclaimed podcast "What is to be done, Mr. General?" on Tuesday.
Compared to the Donbass, the Russians would have deployed very weak defensive forces on this side of the front.
Due to the length of the front, the Russian units could therefore only limit themselves to surveillance and security, which allowed the Ukrainian reconnaissance troops to stay on the east bank for several days.
Such armed reconnaissance is a normal activity in war to know what the enemy is doing.
"If you have a different intention, if you want to attack across the river," the activities of the Ukrainian soldiers could also be, for example, exploring crossing points.
This is very unlikely, but "we'll see," said the former general.
The US think tank
Institute for the Study of War
and other sources had already reported on the Ukrainian units on the east side of the Dnieper last weekend.
On Tuesday, the Kherson regional administration banned all trips by boats and ships.
The order serves to ensure the safety of the civilian population and will initially apply until martial law expires, according to a statement on Tuesday.
There are exceptions for the armed forces of Ukraine and water protection experts.
Tanks, drones, anti-aircraft defenses: weapons for Ukraine
Tanks, drones, anti-aircraft defenses: weapons for Ukraine
US government welcomes phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Zelenskyy
The US government welcomed the phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"We think that's a good thing," National Security Council communications director John Kirby said on Wednesday.
The US government has said for some time that it is important for Xi and the Chinese government to listen to Ukraine's perspective on Russia's war of aggression.
It is still unclear whether this could lead to a significant development towards peace.
Kirby said the US government was not notified of the call in advance.
"We wouldn't necessarily expect that either." It is about two sovereign heads of state, "and we are glad that they spoke to each other".
Xi and Zelenskyy had previously spoken to each other on the phone.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began around 14 months ago
Ukraine and Russia exchange prisoners of war again
Update from April 26, 3:55 p.m .:
Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war again.
"We managed to bring 44 of our people home," wrote the head of the presidential office in Kiev, Andriy Yermak, on Telegram on Wednesday.
There are 36 soldiers and 6 officers who, among other things, defended the port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine.
In addition, two civilians were released.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had exchanged 40 of its own soldiers.
The men had already been flown to Moscow for the necessary treatment and rehabilitation.
Only two days ago it was announced that Ukraine is working with Russia to exchange all prisoners of war.
So far, when exchanging prisoners, the aim has been to achieve parity in terms of number.
According to information from Kiev, around 2,300 Ukrainians have returned from Russian captivity since the Russian invasion more than 14 months ago.
Experts see the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine as a sign that certain information channels between the countries are still open.
China's President Xi and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy are on the phone for the first time since the war began
On Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the phone for the first time since the start of the Ukraine war 14 months ago.
According to Chinese state media, Xi promised in the phone call that China would work for peace talks and a ceasefire as soon as possible.
The People's Republic will send a special envoy to Ukraine to hold talks with all parties interested in peace.
"High-level delegation" from China wants to travel to Ukraine for peace talks
Update from April 26, 3:23 p.m.:
China wants to send a high-ranking delegation to Ukraine to reach a “political agreement” in the war with Russia.
The Foreign Ministry announced in Beijing on Wednesday that a “special delegation from the Chinese government” would visit Ukraine and other countries.
The delegation should "conduct detailed talks with all parties for a political agreement in the Ukraine crisis".
According to China, it is trying to maintain a neutral position in the conflict.
Beijing presented a "position paper on the political solution to the Ukraine crisis" in February and has never condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine.
The West accuses China of condoning Moscow's aggression.
In a vote by the UN General Assembly in New York in February of this year, 141 countries voted in favor of withdrawing Russian troops from Ukraine; China abstained.
Ukrainian president warns West not to allow Russia to blackmail it
Update from April 26, 1:05 p.m .:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj warns the West against being blackmailed by Russia with nuclear threats.
Referring to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, Zelenskyy said: "We must do everything we can to give the terrorist state no chance to use nuclear power plants to blackmail Ukraine and the whole world." The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned several times , fighting near Zaporizhia increases the risk of a nuclear catastrophe.
The Ukrainian President issued the warning on the occasion of the 37th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Ukraine war: Nuclear weapons in Belarus - Russia completes training of Belarusian troops
Update from April 26, 11:15 a.m .:
According to their own statements, the Russian armed forces have trained soldiers from Belarus on the tactical nuclear weapons stationed there.
The Ministry of Defense in Moscow announced on Wednesday that they had shown good results.
The ministry also published a video of the training process at a military training area in southern Belarus.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced the stationing of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus against the background of tensions with the NATO countries in the wake of the war he had started against Ukraine.
According to the Russian ministry, weapons training has been running since April 3, as per Putin's announcement.
The Belarusian soldiers studied in detail the storage and use of tactical explosive devices for missiles.
There was also a test launch of a rocket, as can be seen on the video.
Ukraine War: London delivers uranium-containing munitions to Kiev
First report from April 26th:
KIEV/Moscow - The British Ministry of Defense has supplied ammunition for the deployed Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.
Among them are armor-piercing shells with enriched uranium.
That was the answer of Tory MP James Heappey on Tuesday (April 25) to a written question in the British Parliament.
"We sent thousands of rounds of Challenger 2 ammunition to Ukraine," the MP explained.
Heappey did not give exact figures, citing operational safety reasons.
London delivers ammunition containing uranium to Kiev – Russian embassy warns of consequences in the Ukraine war
A reaction from the Russian government was not long in coming.
"The UK will not escape responsibility for the consequences of the use in Ukraine of depleted uranium missiles handed over to the Ukrainian armed forces," state news agency TASS quoted a statement from the Russian Embassy in Britain as
saying
.
The delivery of uranium-containing projectiles to the Ukraine had already caused a stir a few weeks ago.
At the end of March, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced consequences for the provision of armor-piercing ammunition.
"I would like to note that if all this happens, Russia will be forced to react accordingly," the Kremlin chief said.
Putin further claimed that the projectiles were "weapons with a nuclear component."
Ammunition containing uranium in the Ukraine war: “Has nothing to do with nuclear weapons”
The US thin tank "Institute for the Study of War" (ISW) saw the president's statements as deliberate misinformation.
A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense said in March that the British army had been using depleted uranium in its armor-piercing shells for decades.
"This is a standard component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons or capabilities," the spokesman said.
(fd/nak with AFP/dpa)
List of rubrics: © Susan Walsh/AP/dpa
