Beijing is ready to discuss a political settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Mao Ning said. The statement came ahead of a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Beijing on 5 April. French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed in a telephone call ahead of the visit to Beijing by Macron to engage China to hasten the end of the war in Ukraine, the Elysee Palace said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

“We have been clear with China that its position on Russia’s atrocities and war crimes will determine the quality of our relations with Beijing,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief said at a press conference “There is a clear expectation from a permanent member of the (U.N.) Security Council to stand up in defense of international rules-based order and China as a moral duty to contribute to a fair peace,” Josep Borrel said. “There cannot be siding with the aggressor.” He described as “ironic” the fact that Russia is deploying nuclear weapons in Belarus. “This comes, ironically, after Chinese President Xi visited Moscow and mentioned the need for peace,” he said.

The EU is discussing a new Lithuanian bid to push the European Union to impose sanctions on Russia’s nuclear energy industry with proposed exemptions for Hungary and a two-year period to phase out existing contracts, according to a document obtained by Reuters.

The President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is to pay a two-day visit to Moscow for talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has announced. Lukashenko stated he had held a very serious conversation over the telephone with the director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin who informed him of serious threats against Belarus, the Belarusian state news agency or BelTA reports.

Belarusian authorities continue to advance Russia’s false narrative of nuclear escalation, likely to intimidate NATO states from providing military aid to Ukraine, the US-based Institute for the Study of War writes. Russian officials likely remain concerned about a potential Ukrainian threat to Crimea amid continued fortification and logistical efforts, the ISW says.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is to visit Poland on 5 April at the invitation of Polish President Andrzej Duda.