Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron is in Beijing on a three-day state visit to China in an effort to strengthen EU-China trade ties and discuss China’s support for Russia, among other things.

Macron is trying to encourage Chinese Premier Xi Jinping away from backing Russia in its war in Ukraine, and asked him to use his influence to help improve the situation.

“The Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to stability. I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason and everyone back to the negotiating table,” Macron told Xi, according to Reuters.

The visit comes roughly two weeks after Xi’s visit to Moscow, during which close ties between Russia and China were affirmed and no progress was made toward a peace settlement in Ukraine. Relations between China and the EU, meanwhile, have been described as being at an all-time low.

— Natasha Turak

The head of Russian private military organization Wagner Group admitted that Ukrainian forces don’t show any sign of giving up in the war-ravaged city of Bakhmut, which has been almost entirely destroyed over months of heavy fighting.

“It must be said clearly that the enemy is not going anywhere,” Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin wrote on his Telegram account, according to a Google translation.

In previous weeks, Russian military officials claimed to have nearly surrounded Ukraine’s forces, which Kyiv denied. Prigozhin’s comments follow remarks by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, which hinted at a potential change in positioning in the event of full encirclement.

“For me, the most important thing is not to lose our military, and if there is a moment of even hotter events and the danger that we may lose personnel due to encirclement, there will be appropriate correct decisions on the spot,” Zelenskyy said during a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Zelenskyy has so far refused to withdraw his forces from Bakhmut, as surrendering the city would give Russian forces access to much more of the country’s east. Bakhmut has been described as a “meat grinder,” with huge casualties suffered on both sides.

— Natasha Turak

At least five people were killed by Russian shelling in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian state broadcaster Suspilne reported.

“At night, Russian troops fired mortars at Bilopillya in Sumy oblast, people in the community were left without electricity,” the outlet wrote on its official Telegram channel.

“As a result of Russian shelling yesterday in Donetsk region, five people were killed and nine others were injured. A man who was injured in yesterday’s shelling of Beryslav in the Kherson region died in the hospital.”

CNBC was not able to independently verify the information.

— Natasha Turak

Moscow fired a Russian colonel-general, following his poor performance in the fighting taking place in eastern Ukraine, the U.K. Ministry of Defence wrote in its daily intelligence update. Reports of the dismissal have surfaced in Russian media and social media.

“The Russian MoD has highly likely dismissed Colonel-General Rustam Muradov as commander of the Eastern Group of Forces (EGF) in Ukraine. The EGF under Muradov has suffered exceptionally heavy casualties in recent months as its poorly conceived assaults repeatedly failed to capture the Donetsk Oblast town of Vuhledar,” the U.K. ministry wrote on Twitter.

The operations “attracted intense public criticism from across the spectrum of Russian commentators — including Muradov’s own troops,” the posts said, adding that he is the “most senior military dismissal of 2023 so far.”

— Natasha Turak

Swedish authorities investigating the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage have still not found any evidence pointing to who carried out the blast, Sweden’s prosecuting authority said.

“We are working unconditionally and turning over every stone and leaving nothing to chance,” prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said in a statement cited by Reuters.

“Our hope is to be able to confirm who has committed this crime, but it should be noted that it likely will be difficult given the circumstances.”

The Nord Stream pipeline that connects Russia and Germany and was previously a vital source of gas from Russia to Europe suffered a massive explosion last September, as sanctions were being imposed on Russian energy over the invasion of Ukraine.

— Natasha Turak

Ukraine would be willing to discuss the status of the Crimean peninsula if its army reaches Crimea’s borders, a top official said.

“If we will succeed in achieving our strategic goals on the battlefield and when we will be on the administrative border with Crimea, we are ready to open [a] diplomatic page to discuss this issue,” Andriy Sybiha, deputy head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, told the Financial Times in an interview.

“It doesn’t mean that we exclude the way of liberation [of Crimea] by our army,” he said.

The FT report added that Sybiha’s comments “may relieve western officials who are sceptical about Ukraine’s ability to reclaim the peninsula and worry that any attempt to do so militarily could lead Vladimir Putin to escalate his war, possibly with nuclear weapons.”

Kyiv has so far rejected any negotiations until Russian forces withdraw from the entirety of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, which belongs to Ukraine under international law and which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.

The FT report described Sybiha as a “veteran diplomat” who has long been at Zelenskyy’s side. Sybiha said “the president and his aides were now talking specifically about Crimea, as Ukraine’s army gets closer to launching its counteroffensive to regain territory,” the FT wrote.

— Natasha Turak

If Beijing further supports Russia in its war against Ukraine, that could affect trade relations between Europe and China, said Jens Eskelund, vice president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, will be in Beijing alongside France’s President Emmanuel Macron this week.

“I think both of the leaders will impress upon the Chinese leadership that right now everything is being viewed through the lens of Ukraine,” he told CNBC “Squawk Box Asia.”

“It should not be underestimated — the potential impact it could have also on European-China trade — if we see further expressions of support from China for Russia in its aggression against Ukraine. This point will be made clear.”

— Sumathi Bala

The White House said it has seen no indication that China has agreed to provide Russia with lethal weapons for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

“We haven’t seen any indication that they’ve provided lethal weapon capabilities to Mr. Putin. And look for us, it’s actions, not words,” National security council spokesman John Kirby said on a call with reporters.

“We’re just gonna keep watching it and monitoring it,” he said, declining to speculate on any potential U.S. retaliation if Beijing provided support to Russia.

— Amanda Macias