16:46 – Selenskyj: China shows lack of interest in peace

Zelenskyy accuses China of a lack of interest in peace in Ukraine."China certainly has the ability to force the Russians to stop the killing. However, the world has seen no efforts by China to implement this with regard to Russia," the Ukrainian leader said during an appearance in Kyiv. While Beijing has called for an end to the war and warned against escalation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has done nothing.

"And that doesn't stop China from welcoming Putin and talking to him about the most important thing: longevity," he accused Beijing, referring to Putin's recent four-day state visit to China. A conversation between Putin and President Xi Jinping about aging was accidentally overheard.

3:47 p.m. – Germany advocates for more restrictive visa issuance to Russians

As part of the ongoing EU planning for a new package of sanctions against Russia, the German Federal Government is also advocating for more restrictive issuance of entry permits into the Schengen area. According to information from the German Press Agency, a position paper calls for the full implementation of guidelines published by the EU Commission in 2022. These guidelines were supposed to have long since severely restricted the issuance of visas to Russian citizens for tourist trips or shopping trips to EU member states.

Recent figures show that this is clearly not happening. According to EU data, consulates in Russia issued around 542,000 visas for short-term stays in EU countries or other Schengen states such as Switzerland last year. While this was significantly fewer than in the pre-coronavirus year of 2019, it was around a fifth more than in 2023.

This development is causing frustration, especially in eastern EU states. There, there has long been criticism that it is unacceptable for wealthy Russians, who profit from the government of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, to bask in the sun on Mediterranean beaches in EU countries while countless people are dying in Ukraine as a result of Russia's war of aggression.

1:09 p.m. – NATO is monitoring Russian military maneuvers “very closely”

According to NATO's assessment, the current joint military exercises between Russia and Belarus do not pose an"imminent military threat" to NATO allies. However, the defense alliance is monitoring Russian military activities"very closely," a NATO representative told the AFP news agency. The Kremlin has repeatedly demonstrated"a lack of transparency" regarding the size and scope of its exercises, she added.