Ukrainian president calls again for substantive peace discussions, as US puts pressure on China over conflict.
Chinese President Xi Jinping tells Joe Biden that “all sides” must support Russia-Ukraine “dialogue”.
Biden did not offer incentives to Xi in video call between two leaders, White House says.
First United Nations aid convoy arrives in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy.
Ukraine says more than 9,100 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities through humanitarian corridors on Friday.
More than half of those evacuated — 4,972 people — left the besieged city of Mariupol.
Russia slams Council of Europe as a “Russophobic” tool of the West.
UN says 6.5 million people have been internally displaced due to the war.
Luhansk humanitarian corridor for evacuation agreed: Governor
The governor of Luhansk region has said a humanitarian corridor for evacuations will be opened Saturday morning.
“A humanitarian corridor has been agreed, we will try to evacuate people and bring food today. A ‘regime of silence’ has been agreed for March 19, starting at 9 a.m. (0700 GMT),” Serhiy Gaiday said on Telegram.
White House: Biden to discuss China’s Russia alignment in Europe
The White House has said President Joe Biden will discuss China’s moves to align with Russia when he travels to Europe next week.
On Friday, Biden told Chinese President Xi Jinping that there would be consequences if Beijing backs Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.
Biden will participate in meetings with allies in Brussels next Thursday
Ukraine says ‘temporarily’ lost access to Sea of Azov
Ukraine’s defence ministry has said it has lost access to the Sea of Azov “temporarily” as Russian forces tightened their grip around the besieged port city of Mariupol.
“The occupiers have partially succeeded in the Donetsk operational district, temporarily depriving Ukraine of access to the Sea of Azov,” Ukraine’s defence ministry said in a statement late on Friday.
The ministry did not say whether or when Ukraine’s forces had regained access to the sea.
‘No sign’ China’s position has changed after Xi-Biden talks
More analysis of China’s perspective on the call between Biden and Xi as Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, who is in Beijing, says coverage of the call in state media focused more on the broader relationship with the United States, and Taiwan in particular.
She noted that when the reports did get to Ukraine there was no mention of Biden’s warning about the risks of providing support for Russia. Instead, the stories highlighted the need for both countries to de-escalate tensions and that economic sanctions would only serve to damage the global economy rather than end the war.
“We’ve seen no sign whatsoever that China’s position has changed,” Yu said.
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