Chinese nationals captured fighting for Russia in Ukraine, Zelenskyy says
Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces had captured two Chinese men fighting on Russia’s side in eastern Ukraine, potentially threatening a fragile peace effort in the three-year-old war.
Reuters noted that Beijing is a close ally of Moscow but is not publicly known to have directly aided in the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion.
Writing on X, where he posted a video of one of the men, Zelenskyy said Kyiv has “information suggesting that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units” and that he had ordered officials to obtain a response from Beijing.
“Russia’s involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war,” Zelenskyy wrote, as reported by Reuters.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry summoned China’s charge d’affaires in Kyiv to explain the incident.
Key events
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US top general in Europe says ‘planning to keep’ soldiers where they are
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US values European allies ‘to extent they are willing to step up’ and ‘pull their weight’, US defence officials ays
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Russia has ‘extensive’ plans to modernise ‘intended to … challenge Nato,’ US top general in Europe warns
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US review of forces in Europe and other forces ‘ongoing,’ with ‘no decisions’ made yet, official says
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Russia ‘growing threat’ as we ‘face historic times’ in Europe, US top general tells lawmakers as he recommends to maintain ‘surged’ US presence in Europe
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‘Strong will’ to finalise German coalition talks – media reports
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US-Russia talks on normalising diplomatic links expected in coming days
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Chinese nationals captured fighting for Russia in Ukraine, Zelenskyy says
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US forces repositioning ‘consulted’ with Poland, with assurances of no reduction in troops numbers, Polish prime minister says
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Repositioning US troops from Jasionka ‘pre-planned operation’, Polish defence ministry insists
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US reportedly considering withdrawing up to 10,000 US soldiers from central, eastern Europe – reports
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EU sanctions policy ‘failed’ to make impact on Russia, Hungary’s foreign minister says
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Hungary’s foreign minister blames EU for failing to proactively engage with Trump on tariffs
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Germany temporarily suspends resettlement of UN refugees, German press agency dpa says
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EU’s von der Leyen speaks with China’s Li Qiang on trade and ‘avoiding further escalation’
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Trump risking ‘a Liz Truss moment’, German press says
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Morning opening: Not good enough
US top general in Europe says ‘planning to keep’ soldiers where they are
General Cavoli gets pointedly asked about plans to keep US troops on the Eastern flanks of Nato, amid concerns in Poland and Romania I reported earlier today.
He says:
We move forces around frequently in Europe, our air forces are hopping all around. Our maritime force, or even our ground forces move, move from place to place.
But the principal locations where we have forces right now, that’s where they are, and that’s where I’m planning to keep them.
He goes on to specifically praise Poland and Lithuania for their investment and support for US troops stationed there.
US values European allies ‘to extent they are willing to step up’ and ‘pull their weight’, US defence officials ays
Katherine Thompson, of the Department of Defence, is asked whether the US considers European alliances critical to American national security.
She says “a strong defence and deterrence in Europe is certainly in our national interest, particularly as the department has an aim to focus on homeland defence” and points to “the looming threat of conflict with China and the Indo-Pacific.”
Asked to clarify her comments further, she says “we do value our partners in Europe to the extent that they’re willing to step up and be strong allies and partners with us, and that means pulling their weight.”
“That’s the tough message and the honest message that this administration has been delivering. And we believe it’s important to be honest with our allies, and that that only builds a stronger relationship for us and for our European allies and partners,” she says.
General Cavoli is also asked about the importance of a US general holding the role of Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), amid rumours that the US could be prepared to leave the position to European allies in the next reshuffle.
Cavoli confirms the existence of US nuclear weapons in Europe – adding that “the number and the modification of them is classified, but their existence is not” – and stresses they fall under his command and control.
“If those nuclear weapons were going to be offered to the alliance for nuclear deterrence … that would come under the command of the Supreme Allied Commander,” he says, adding it would currently be also him.
“The way we’re currently set up I, as the commander of EUCOM [United States European Command], own the weapons, and I hand them to myself as the Supreme Allied Commander. That’s possible because I am the same person and I am American,” he says.
His answer isn’t direct, but hinting that if the US were to continue offering nuclear protection for Europe, it should keep the post of SACEUR.
Russia has ‘extensive’ plans to modernise ‘intended to … challenge Nato,’ US top general in Europe warns
General Cavoli was also asked about Russia’s efforts to modernise their military and he spoke of “very extensive” plans in place, with “the intention to grow their armed forces to 1.5 million” with new commands in north and eastern part of Europe, “on the border of Nato, with Finland and the Baltics.”
He says:
“They’re on the path to doing that. They’re not going very quickly, because they’re devoting so much to the effort in Ukraine.
We’ll see how much effort they’ll be able to put into it after the war. It depends largely how the war ends. But that modernisation program is intended to go right back and challenge Nato on the borders of Nato.”
US review of forces in Europe and other forces ‘ongoing,’ with ‘no decisions’ made yet, official says
Speaking at the same hearing, Katherine Thompson, performing the duties of assistant secretary of defence for international security defence, said that the US Department of Defence “is undergoing a global force posture review” in all theatres – including Europe – “based on President Trump’s stated interests, and sizing our force and our resources appropriately to that.”
“No decisions have been made at this time as part of that global force posture review, it is ongoing,” she added.
Russia ‘growing threat’ as we ‘face historic times’ in Europe, US top general tells lawmakers as he recommends to maintain ‘surged’ US presence in Europe
The top US general in Europe told US lawmakers that “we continue to face historic times in the European theater,” warning against “a growing threat” from Russia.
Speaking at the House Armed Services Committee, US army general Christopher Cavoli saidd that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “revealed Russia to be a chronic threat and in the coming years it is going to be a growing threat, one that is willing to achieve geopolitical goals and is actively waging a campaign of destabilisation across Europe and beyond.”
Asked about his recommendation on US force presence in Europe, he tells lawmakers:
It’s my advice to maintain that force posture as it is now.
Since 2022 when we originally surged forces forward, we have periodically reviewed the force structure at both the military level and the policy level, and I have consistently recommended throughout that period to maintain the forces we surged forward, and I would continue to do so now.
He then adds:
It’s really because of our proximity and our familiarity with the area, the bases that we have in Europe, and the legal permissions we have with nations hosting us, [that] give us the ability to project power quickly in our interest on behalf of our US unilateral interests.
Miranda Bryant
The Finnish foreign minister has defended her government’s plan to leave the Ottawa treaty banning anti-personnel landmines, claiming Finland needs to be able to procure mines in case of potential attack by Russia.
Finland announced last week that it planned to leave the 1997 Ottawa Convention, attracting criticism from neighbouring Norway, which remains part of the convention and also borders Russia.
Russian media has claimed it is evidence that Finland is preparing for war and that it plans to put landmines on their 830-mile shared border, which has been closed on the Finnish side for over a year.
Speaking at bilateral talks with her Swedish counterpart in Stockholm, Elina Valtonen told the Guardian that antipersonnel landmines would only be used by Helsinki domestically and in defence.
But she insisted that the Nordic nation remains committed to de-mining internationally.
Valtonen told the Guardian:
“First of all, the antipersonnel mines would only be used in defence, only on Finnish soil and also with modern systems we would of course be tracking the minefields if put into use. But first and foremost this is about getting ourselves the freedom to make use of antipersonnel mines if needs be.”
She added:
“Therefore we are preparing legislation to step out of the convention for the use of the mines or for the potential future use of the mines as part of our defence architecture.
But at the same time we still remain very committed to the humanitarian work in relation to this and continue our funding to de-mining projects around the world.”
Asked whether any potential mines would be used on the Finnish border with Russia, she said it was “depending where the aggression comes from”. But, she added: “It’s most likely not coming from Sweden.”
She said the decision was taken on the basis of analysis of Russian tactics in Ukraine.
“The reason we are taking this step is our defence forces have closely scrutinised and analysed the lessons learned from the warfare in Ukraine and we do see that Russia is very much still today still engaged in very soviet-style invasion by which they are using significant use of land forces and showing little to no regard for human life.”
She added: “This is the type of warfare we have to prepare for in order to prevent that from ever happening.”
Helsinki, she said, does not plan on reopening the border “for the time being” citing threat of hybrid attack by Russia using asylum seekers.
After the “golf diplomacy” talks between Trump and the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, she said the US and Finland, a world leader on icebreaker ships, are in discussion about developing the vessels for the US.
At a joint press conference at foreign policy conference Hanalys with Swedish foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, she claimed that the reason Finland is ranked the world’s happiest country is because its population know that living conditions on the other side of the border in Russia is “the opposite of what we want to be living in.”
Responding to criticism by the Swedish Armed Forces which this week warned of obstacles getting in the way of Sweden’s ability to quickly develop and purchase new defence technology, Malmer Stenergard said Sweden has “doubled investment in four years and we will continue to invest in our military.”
‘Strong will’ to finalise German coalition talks – media reports
Let me bring you an update on the German coalition talks, with the Bild newspaper reporting that there is a strong will to reach a deal today, and to be presented on Wednesday.
There are still some outstanding issues on tax and pensions, the tabloid said.
Separately, two sources told Reuters about the same expected timeline.
Once the deal is confirmed, Friedrich Merz could be formally named as the new chancellor at the Bundestag’s sitting on 7 May, just in time to take part in the VE Day commemorations the following day and the EU-UK summit on 19 May.
US-Russia talks on normalising diplomatic links expected in coming days
Separately, we are also getting reports from Russian state-owned news agency Tass that further US-Russia talks are expected “in coming days” in Istanbul, with Russia’s ambassador to the US Alexander Darchiev set to lead the Moscow delegation.
Both delegations will be made up of only diplomats and the talks will focus on normalising the operations of the diplomatic missions of both countries, the ministry was cited as saying, Reuters said.
Chinese nationals captured fighting for Russia in Ukraine, Zelenskyy says
Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces had captured two Chinese men fighting on Russia’s side in eastern Ukraine, potentially threatening a fragile peace effort in the three-year-old war.
Reuters noted that Beijing is a close ally of Moscow but is not publicly known to have directly aided in the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion.
Writing on X, where he posted a video of one of the men, Zelenskyy said Kyiv has “information suggesting that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units” and that he had ordered officials to obtain a response from Beijing.
“Russia’s involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war,” Zelenskyy wrote, as reported by Reuters.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry summoned China’s charge d’affaires in Kyiv to explain the incident.
US forces repositioning ‘consulted’ with Poland, with assurances of no reduction in troops numbers, Polish prime minister says
Speaking minutes later, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said the repositioning of US troops in Jasionka, announced on Monday, had been “consulted” with Poland “many weeks ago” and was “not a surprise.”
He added that the US had committed to keeping these troops in Poland, meaning “there is no reduction in US deployment in Poland or in Europe.”
“I’m talking about assurances we received from Americans; I hope they will come true,” he said.
Speaking at a press conference in Warsaw just now, Polish defence minister Kosiniak-Kamysz has repeated the same points, saying the process of repositioning US troops had been gradually taking place since December, with German and Norwegian forces arriving in Jasionka to take over some of their roles.
He insisted the broader US presence in the region remained unchanged, with the US troops stationed in Jasionka expected to remain in Poland and get deployed to other bases, and US intelligence-sharing and military aid for Ukraine continuing without disruptions.
The minister even tried to briefly argue the change was a net positive, given the troops had been previously primarily assigned to help Ukraine with their presence specifically in Poland being a by product of logistics arrangements, and now will be permanently stationed in Poland.
He stressed that US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and other US officials repeatedly pointed to Poland as a “model ally,” given the highest level of defence spending in Nato and approx. $60 bn in further contracted defence investments.
Repositioning US troops from Jasionka ‘pre-planned operation’, Polish defence ministry insists
The Polish ministry of defence has got back to me, stressing that the relocation of US troops out of Jasionka is a pre-planned operation in line with decisions made at the 2024 Nato summit in Washington.
It stressed the Jasionka base continues to operate without disruptions, with tasks previously falling to US soldiers taken over by other allies, including air defence systems from Norway and Germany, and air patrol operations by Norway, Sweden and the UK.
The ministry said that the total number of US troops in Poland remains unchanged, at about 10,000.
Poland’s defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz will hold a press conference at the top of the hour, so I will bring you his comments for more detail as he will probably seek to offer further reassurance on this.
The move is causing a lot of concern in Poland given Jasionka’s symbolic status as the gateway for US and Nato’s help for Ukraine. In March 2022, the then US president Joe Biden visited the base to pay tribute to US soldiers’ work there in the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Jakub Krupa
For what it’s worth, I have approached the Polish and Romanian defence ministries for comment on the NBC News report and will get you their responses if and when I hear back from them.
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