The Russian invasion

 

The Russian invasion|The response of the outside world 

 

Xi Jinping and Volodymyr Zelensky. TT Xi on phone with Zelenskyy - urged Ukraine to 'negotiate'  

China's President Xi Jinping has spoken by phone with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, reports the Chinese state TV channel CCTV.  

 

The conversation is the first between the two leaders since Russia launched the large-scale offensive against Ukraine in February last year.  

 

Xi is reported to have told Zelensky that "talks and negotiations" are the only way out. He is also said to have said that China will send a special delegation to Ukraine to talk to all parties about a solution to the crisis.  

 

Zelensky confirms that the conversation took place, writes AFP. 

 

"I had a long and important phone conversation with President Xi Jinping," he writes in a tweet.

 

Russia's capital Moscow. Mikhail Metzel / AP  

 

Russia expels ten Norwegian diplomats  

 

Ten diplomats at the Norwegian embassy in Moscow are expelled from Russia, NRK reports.  

 

According to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, the Russian government states that this is a reaction to Norway expelling 15 people from the Russian embassy in Oslo. 

 

- We see the Russian decision as an act of revenge. All our diplomats in Russia carry out ordinary diplomatic work. Russian authorities know this well, NRK is told.  

 

The Norwegian ambassador Robert Kvile was called to a meeting at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he was told that the diplomats had been declared unwanted in the country. 

 

- It would be a big surprise if they answered in a different way, says Kvile. Illustration image.  

 

Russian aircraft model Su-27. AP  

 

Luftwaffe: Russian military flights over the Baltic Sea  

 

Three Russian military aircraft are said to have flown over the Baltic Sea during the morning, the German Air Force writes on Twitter, TT reports. 

 

The military aircraft were identified by German and British forces and two of the planes are said to be of the Suchoi-Su-27 model and an Ilyushin Il-20.