Ready to hold 'high-level negotiations' with Ukraine, Putin tells Xi

Around the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday reiterated his call for Russian President Putin to hold talks and stop the conflict

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he was ready to hold "high-level negotiations" with Ukraine as he spoke with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping who stressed that both Moscow and Kyiv should resolve the raging crisis through talks.

Xi and Putin, regarded as allies and friends as China and Russia enlarged their strategic ties amid the strident US and EU push against them on a host of issues, held their talks on the phone around the same time as the Russian troops closed in on Kyiv, home to over three million people, with heavy bombardment raising fears of bloodshed.

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