Latest: Putin, Xi to discuss China’s Ukraine peace plan in Moscow

The International Criminal Court (ICC) move against Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes is a “sombre” one and not a moment for backslapping, the organisation’s Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan has said.

“It’s a moment … not for triumphalism, not for any backslapping,” Khan told international justice ministers meeting in London to discuss scaling up support for the ICC.

“It is really a very sad occasion and a very sombre occasion, that for the first time ever, judges of the International Criminal Court, of any court, have felt it necessary to issue warrants against a leader and senior state officials from a permanent member of the (UN) Security Council.”

Khan also urged the Kremlin to allow Ukrainian children abducted to Russia to return home.

“I say repatriate the children, return the children, reunite the children,” Khan said. “If there is any semblance of truth to the utterances that this is for the sake of children, instead of giving them a foreign passport, return them to the countries of their nationality.”

Any future peace plan must ensure that Russia withdraws its forces from all Ukrainian territory, Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, has reiterated.

The formula for the successful implementation of China’s “peace plan” must include the restoration of Ukraine’s “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”, Danilov said on Twitter.

United States crude exports to Europe have hit a record 2.1 million barrels per day on average so far this month.

Record exports to Europe and China this month reflect the rise of the US in crude oil trade and solidify its role in supplying Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Officials say an international conference in London raised $4.9m to support the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its investigations into alleged war crimes in Ukraine and its work to hold Russia to account.

Justice ministers from more than 40 countries met in London for Monday’s war crimes conference. It came after the global court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of personal responsibility in the abduction of children from Ukraine.

Monday’s conference drummed up extra international funding for the ICC, as well as other offers of resources from European countries including investigative support and forensic expertise, the United Kingdom’s Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Chinese leader Xi Jinping have concluded several hours of informal talks in Moscow, Russian news agencies said.

State news agency RIA Novosti said the talks between the leaders of Russia and China lasted four and a half hours. The two are set to meet again for formal talks on Tuesday.

The White House has urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to press Russian President Vladimir Putin to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and end Russia’s war against Ukraine.

John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, told reporters the US is concerned that Xi, currently on a trip to Moscow, will reiterate calls for a ceasefire that leave Russian forces inside Ukrainian sovereign territory.

President Vladimir Putin has told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that Russia is open to discussing China’s proposals to end the fighting in Ukraine at the start of high-stakes talks at the Kremlin.

“We are always open to negotiations,” Putin told the Chinese leader, who was on his first visit to Moscow since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine last year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reaffirmed that Moscow agreed to extend a deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain to global markets only for 60 days and could drop it altogether if its conditions aren’t met.

Speaking on Monday at a parliamentary meeting in Moscow attended by lawmakers from African countries, Putin emphasised that Russia will expect the facilitation of exports of its own agricultural products.

The United Nations and Turkey brokered July’s agreement allowing Ukraine — one of the world’s key breadbaskets — to ship food and fertiliser from its Black Sea ports.

The 120-day agreement was renewed last November. Russia agreed to extend it again when it expired Saturday, but noted that it has only accepted a 60-day extension.

Norway has announced that it has delivered eight Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, a contribution that along with those of other countries will be “decisive” for an upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The Scandinavian country announced in February that it would give eight of its ageing Leopard 2A4s to Ukraine.

In addition to the tanks, Norway has pledged to provide Kyiv with up to four support vehicles, ammunition and spare parts.

Ukrainian crews are currently being trained to operate the Leopard tanks in Poland under the auspices of the European Union, the Norwegian Armed Forces said.

The head of Russia’s Wagner Group of mercenaries has said that his forces control more than half of the embattled eastern Ukraine town of Bakhmut, the stage for the longest battle of Russia’s offensive.

“At the moment, Wagner units control around 70 percent of the city of Bakhmut and are continuing operations to complete the liberation of the city,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an open letter to Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Russian and Ukrainian forces have invested heavily in the battle for Bakhmut, even though analysts say the city carried little strategic value.

Ukraine says the battle for the industrial town is key to holding back Russian forces along the entire eastern front.

Ukraine’s 2023 grain harvest is likely to fall to 44.3 million tonnes from 53.1 million in 2022 as less acreage is sown due to the Russian invasion, according to a forecast by the Ukrainian agriculture ministry.

Ukraine is a major global grain and oilseed producer and exporter, but its production and exports fell sharply after Russia occupied a swathe of Ukrainian territory and blocked key Black Sea ports in the second half of last season.

In peaceful 2021, Ukraine harvested a record 86 million tonnes of grain.

“The reduction in grain sowing acreage, coupled with the projected decline in average yields caused by rising prices of key inputs, will affect harvest volumes,” the ministry said.

Group of Seven (G7) nations are not likely to revise a price cap on Russian oil this week, two European Union officials have told Reuters.

The G7 was due to revise the price cap put in place in December in mid-March, but the officials said EU countries’ ambassadors were told by the European Commission over the weekend that there is no appetite among the G7 for an imminent review.

The cap on Russian seaborne crude exports was set at $60 per barrel, a level designed to sit below the market price and therefore curb the revenue Moscow can receive from selling oil, while keeping it flowing to avoid a global supply shock.

Brent crude oil was trading at around $73 per barrel on Monday.

Russia’s revenues from oil and gas exports dropped by nearly 40 percent in January as a result of price caps and Western sanctions, the International Energy Agency said last month.

Xi’s trip to Russia this week in the wake of the ICC arrest warrant for Putin suggests China does not think Moscow should be held accountable for its atrocities in Ukraine, the US secretary of state says.

“The world should not be fooled by any tactical move by Russia, supported by China or any other country, to freeze the war on its own terms,” Blinken told reporters.

He said the US welcomes any diplomacy for a “just and durable peace” but raised doubts that China was safeguarding the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Ukraine.

“Any plan that does not prioritise this critical principle is a stalling tactic at best or is merely seeking to facilitate an unjust outcome. That is not constructive diplomacy,” Blinken said.

The US has authorised another round of military aid for Ukraine valued at $350m, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says.

“This military assistance package includes more ammunition for US-provided HIMARS [mobile rocket launchers] and howitzers that Ukraine is using to defend itself, as well as ammunition for Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, HARM missiles, anti-tank weapons, riverine boats, and other equipment,” Blinken said in a statement.

Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has told Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu in a letter that the Ukrainian army is planning an offensive to cut off his Wagner Group forces from the main body of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.

In the letter published by his press service, Prigozhin said the offensive was planned for late March or early April.

He also asked Shoigu to take all measures to prevent a division of Russian forces, which, he said, could lead to “negative consequences” for Russia’s military efforts in Ukraine.

Putin faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, which accuses the Russian president of the war crime of illegally moving Ukrainian children to Russia.

In response, a Russian court has opened a criminal case against the ICC prosecutor and judges involved in the arrest warrant, which the Kremlin said was a sign of the “clear hostility” for Russia and Putin.

Al Jazeera’s Inside Story speaks to experts about the ramifications of the ICC warrant.

EU member states have reached an agreement on the joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on the sidelines of a meeting in Brussels.

“Today, we will sign the respective documents,” he told reporters.

He added that Germany would also open its national framework contracts because speed was of the essence.

“Our goal has to be to ship a significant amount of munitions to Ukraine before the end of this year,” Pistorius said.

Xi tells Putin in talks at the Kremlin that he is “convinced” that Putin enjoys the Russian people’s support ahead of a presidential election scheduled for next year.

“Thanks to your strong leadership, Russia has made significant progress in achieving the prosperity of the country in recent years,” Xi told Putin through an interpreter. “I am sure that the Russian people will strongly support you in your good endeavours.”

Xi also called Putin his “dear friend”, and Putin used the same term with his guest.

The Chinese president also thanked Putin for what he said was his support for China and said Beijing should have close relations with Moscow.

Putin tells Xi at the Kremlin that he has looked at China’s proposals for a resolution of the Ukraine conflict and he views them with respect.

Speaking at informal talks at the start of Xi’s state visit to Moscow, Putin also said Russia was “slightly envious” of China’s rapid development in recent decades.

Here are three maps we update daily, charting the latest war developments.