Chinese president Xi Jinping told Donald Trump that Russia's Vladimir Putin could come to regret invading his smaller neighbour Ukraine, according to a new report on last week's summit in Beijing.
The report emerged just hours before Putin is due to arrive in Beijing for his own two-day summit with Xi.
The FT reported that Xi made the remarks during wide-ranging talks between the US and Chinese delegations in Beijing, while Trump suggested that the three leaders should co-operate against the International Criminal Court.
Putin said ahead of his visit today that Russia and China are ready to support each other on a wide range of issues, including national unity and protection of sovereignty.
The Kremlin says the two sides will discuss the proposed Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, which could one day deliver an additional 50 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year from Russia's Arctic gas fields via Mongolia to China.
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Kyiv couple killed in a fierce Russian airstrike hoped to start a family, mourners say
Key Points
- China's Xi told Trump that Putin might 'regret' invasion of Ukraine
- Unclear why Russians attacked Chinese vessel, says Ukraine navy spokesperson
- Xi and Putin to hold two-day summit in Beijing days after Trump leaves
- Moscow says Ukraine peace process can resume
- Russia's long-range strikes on Ukraine continue as dozens injured
Moscow says Ukraine peace process is paused
06:40 , Arpan RaiMoscow expects the Russia-Ukraine peace process to be resumed but it is currently paused, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was commenting on remarks by Donald Trump that deadly Russian strikes on Ukraine could set back peace efforts.
Trump suggested to reporters on Friday that a Russian missile strike on a Kyiv apartment building that killed 24 people, including three children, had delayed efforts to reach peace in the four-year conflict.
Peskov said attention should be paid to ongoing strikes by Ukraine on civilian targets in Russia. Moscow faced its biggest drone attack in over a year at the weekend, with at least three people killed in the wider region around the capital.
Watch: Putin heads to China summit just days after Xi and Trump meeting
06:25 , Arpan RaiBelarus launches joint drills with Russia to practise nuclear weapons use
06:13 , Arpan RaiBelarus said on Monday it launched joint drills with Russia to practice the use of nuclear weapons that Moscow has deployed on the territory of its neighbour and ally.
Belarus' authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko has allowed Russia to deploy some of its tactical nuclear weapons to his country. In December, Russia also announced that its latest intermediate range nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system entered service in Belarus, which borders Ukraine and Nato members Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.
The Belarusian defence ministry said that the drills will involve missile units and warplanes.
“During the exercise, in cooperation with the Russian side, it is planned to practise the delivery of nuclear weapons and preparations for their use,” the ministry said in a statement. It said the drills will focus on training forces to move covertly across large distances.
It said the manoeuvres had been planned in advance and weren’t aimed against any third countries.
Russia attacks Ukraine's Danube port city
05:59 , Arpan RaiA Russian air attack damaged port infrastructure in Ukraine's Izmail city in the early hours today, while Russian authorities said they had downed four drones launched by Ukraine that were headed towards Moscow.
Izmail, home to the largest Ukrainian port on the Danube River, is a frequently hit strategic location.
"Port infrastructure facilities in the city of Izmail were damaged," local officials said on Telegram, adding that nearly all aerial attack weapons were destroyed.
"Fortunately, there were no casualties or significant destruction."
The Telegram post showed firemen battling a fire at a building that had had its windows blown out.
British soldier jailed by Russia for fighting in Ukraine says he feels abandoned
05:45 , Arpan RaiA former British soldier who was captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine and has been jailed for 15 years says he feels abandoned by the UK government.
Hayden Davies, 30, was accused by Moscow of being a “paid mercenary” who fought in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, where fierce fighting continues.
He was arrested more than 18 months ago after joining the Ukrainian army’s foreign legion as a volunteer.
He has shared details of his loneliness and harsh treatment in a Russian maximum security prison with the BBC, adding that he has not been contacted by representatives of the UK government.
"I served my country for 12 years in the [British] Army, and now, when I need help and medical treatment, no-one wants to know. This is a disgrace!” he told the BBC.
However, a UK Foreign Office (FCDO) spokesperson told the BBC: "We remain in close contact with Hayden Davies' family and are providing consular support. We strongly condemn the sentencing of Mr Davies in a Russian-controlled court on false charges of mercenaryism."
Putin leaves for China and says Moscow and Beijing ready to back each other
05:32 , Arpan RaiRussia and China are ready to support each other on a wide range of issues, including national unity and protection of sovereignty, president Vladimir Putin said in a video address ahead of a visit to China starting today.
Putin said the relations between Russia and China have reached an "unprecedented level" of mutual understanding and trust, as he prepared to meet Chinese president Xi Jinping for talks.
The countries are ready to cooperate on mutually beneficial and equality-based principles and "to support each other on issues affecting the core interests of the two countries, including the protection of sovereignty and national unity", Putin said. He did not provide any further details.
Russia and China are actively expanding ties in economy, politics and defence, he said, adding that "a close" and "strategic" connection between Moscow and Beijing was playing "a stabilising role" in global relations.
"We are not aligning against anyone, but working for the cause of peace and universal prosperity," Putin said.
Russia's long-range strikes on Ukraine continue as dozens injured
04:36 , Arpan RaiRussia targeted eight regions of Ukraine in its nighttime drone and missile barrage yesterday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said as local authorities reported that the strikes wounded more than two dozen civilians, including three children.
Russian forces fired 524 attack drones and 22 ballistic and cruise missiles, Zelensky said.
The city of Dnipro and the surrounding central region of Ukraine bore the brunt of the attack, officials said.
The barrage continued a recent spiral of long-range strikes that have grown in scale following a 9-11 May ceasefire that US president Donald Trump said he asked Zelensky and Russian president Vladimir Putin to observe but which had little impact.
There is no sign a peace deal is taking shape despite US diplomatic efforts to end Russia's invasion.
Russia hammered Ukraine over several days last week, flattening a Kyiv apartment building where 24 people died.
Russia's Yaroslavl region under drone attack, governor warns
04:22 , Arpan RaiUkrainian drones attacked Russia's Yaroslavl region northeast of Moscow, governor Mikhail Yevrayev said this morning.
He asked drivers in the area to steer away from the capital or use alternative routes to avoid coming under attack or falling debris.
Russia downed a number of Ukraine drones heading towards Moscow, the city's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram yesterday.
China's Xi told Trump that Putin might 'regret' invasion of Ukraine
04:09 , Arpan RaiChinese president Xi Jinping told his US counterpart Donald Trump that Russian leader Vladimir Putin might come to regret invading smaller neighbour Ukraine during their talks last week, according to the Financial Times.
Several people familiar with the US assessment of last week’s summit in Beijing said Xi made the remarks when the US and Chinese delegations held wide-ranging talks on Ukraine and Trump suggested that the three leaders should co-operate against the International Criminal Court.
One person aware of the Chinese president’s meeting with former US president Joe Biden said that while the leaders did hold “frank and direct” conversations on Russia and Ukraine, Xi had not previously offered such an assessment of Putin and his war on Ukraine.
Unclear why Russians attacked Chinese vessel, says Ukraine navy spokesperson
03:00 , Alex CroftAs we’ve been reporting, a Russian drone attacked a Chinese-owned cargo ship that was headed for a Ukrainian port, according to Reuters.
We’ve now heard from a spokesperson for the Ukrainian navy, who says it is unclear why Russian forces launched this attack in the Black Sea.
"It is unclear what the Russians were thinking when they struck a Chinese merchant vessel in our sea last night with a Shahed drone,” Dmytro Pletenchuk writes in a post on Facebook.
He questioned whether the strike was a “monstrous mistake”.
Moscow says Ukraine peace process can resume
02:01 , Alex CroftMoscow expects the Russia-Ukraine peace process to be resumed but it is currently paused, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov was commenting on remarks by Donald Trump that deadly Russian strikes on Ukraine could set back peace efforts.
Trump suggested to reporters on Friday that a Russian missile strike on a Kyiv apartment building that killed 24 people, including three children, had delayed efforts to reach peace in the four-year conflict.
Peskov said attention should be paid to ongoing strikes by Ukraine on civilian targets in Russia. Moscow faced its biggest drone attack in over a year at the weekend, with at least three people killed in the wider region around the capital.
Kyiv couple killed in a fierce Russian airstrike hoped to start a family, mourners say
01:02 , Alex CroftLike many Ukrainians, Maryna Homeniuk fled her homeland after Russia's full-scale invasion four years ago. She managed to complete her degree in the Czech Republic, adding Vietnamese to her impressive list of languages, before returning home the following year and meeting her beloved, Yurii Orlov.
Homeniuk and Orlov, who captained the Kyiv Floorball Club after playing hockey for teams in the Ukrainian capital, were among the 24 people killed Thursday during a terrifying wave of Russian airstrikes that Ukrainian military officials described as the biggest barrage of the war. A cruise missile flattened their apartment building.
On Saturday, friends and family paid their final respects to Homeniuk, a 24-year-old English teacher. They had hoped to pay tribute to Orlov, too, but his body wasn't ready for burial yet.
“She was a very caring person. I feel very sorry, because she had so many dreams. She worked with children and wanted to have children herself someday, when times were safer,” her friend Olesia Yukhnovych said.
Read more here:
Kyiv couple killed in Russian airstrike hoped to start a family, mourners say
Russia has 'serious expectations' for Putin's trip to China, says Kremlin
Tuesday 19 May 2026 00:01 , Alex CroftRussia has "very serious expectations" for president Vladimir Putin's trip to China this week, the Kremlin said on Monday.
The two sides will use it to develop their privileged partnership, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Putin is to visit Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday, arriving just days after Donald Trump departed the Chinese capital.
The Russian delegation will include relevant deputy prime ministers, government ministers and company heads, Peskov told reporters.
Russian drone hits civilian vessel under Guinea-Bissau flag, says Kyiv
Monday 18 May 2026 23:00 , Alex CroftA Russian drone hit a civilian vessel under a Guinea-Bissau flag that was heading to Ukraine's port hub of Greater Odesa, the Ukrainian seaport authority has said.
A small fire broke out on the vessel, which the crew quickly extinguished, it said on Monday.
According to preliminary information, no one was injured in the attack and the vessel resumed its journey, it added.
In pictures: Nato holds biggest special forces exercise in Europe
Monday 18 May 2026 22:01 , Alex Croft
Kyiv condemns nuclear weapons drills in Belarus
Monday 18 May 2026 21:01 , Alex CroftKyiv has condemned nuclear weapons drills in Belarus, saying that deployment of tactical weapons in the country constituted an "unprecedented challenge" to global security.
"By turning Belarus into its nuclear staging ground near Nato borders, the Kremlin is de facto legitimising the proliferation of nuclear weapons worldwide and setting a dangerous precedent for other authoritarian regimes," the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
Kyiv also urged its Western allies to tighten sanctions against Moscow and Minsk: "Such actions must face unequivocal and resolute condemnation from all states that respect the nuclear non-proliferation regime."
Explosives found near crash site of suspected Ukrainian drone in Lithuania
Monday 18 May 2026 20:00 , Alex CroftExplosives have been found near the debris of a suspected Ukrainian military drone that crashed in Lithuania, and they will be disposed of through an explosion at the scene as the materials are too dangerous to remove, Lithuanian police said.
The drone was not detected when it entered Lithuania, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, chief of Lithuania's National Crisis Management Centre, told reporters on Sunday.
It was found crashed in the village of Samane, the centre said, which is 40 km (25 miles) from the Latvian border and 55 km from Belarus. Kyiv has not yet commented on the issue.
Separately, the Latvian army said a drone alert was issued on Sunday morning along its border with Russia.
One drone entered Latvia for a short time during the alert, the army said.
With Reuters
US companies involved in Russian attempts to export grain from occupied Crimea - Zelensky
Monday 18 May 2026 19:01 , Alex CroftUkraine has observed attempts by Russia to export grain from the occupied Crimea region which involved companies from the United States, president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.
"In particular, we have recorded attempts to organise the export of grain from the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea – and, regrettably, other forms of economic exploitation of the peninsula involving entities from the United States," he said on X.
Mr Zelensky said Moscow was also trying to bring investment from "democratic countries" into Russia's Arctic oil and gas projects.
Our Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine has obtained new Russian documents assessing the aggressor state’s losses from the war. Importantly, this is specifically a Russian internal assessment – one they are trying to conceal both from the world and from their own domestic… pic.twitter.com/renq7JzwQN
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 18, 2026
Europe-US unity must survive 'difficult period', says Polish PM
Monday 18 May 2026 17:59 , Alex CroftTransatlantic unity between Washington and Europe must survive a difficult moment in history, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said on Monday.
Mr Tusk was stressing the importance of Warsaw's ties to Washington after the Pentagon cancelled plans to deploy 4,000 US-based troops to Poland.
"The task of all of us here in Poland, in Europe, across the Atlantic, in the US, in Canada, is to ensure that transatlantic cooperation, regardless of various political variables, survives this difficult period," Mr Tusk told reporters.
Report: Putin to visit Chinese leader Xi Jinping days after Trump's trip to Beijing
Monday 18 May 2026 16:58 , Alex CroftRussian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a two-day trip to Beijing next week, the Kremlin said Saturday.
The announcement comes less than 24 hours after U.S. President Donald Trump finished his own state visit to China, where he also met Xi to discuss trade and the U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran.
In a statement, the Kremlin said that Putin’s trip, planned for May 19-20, had been scheduled to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the 2001 Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship.
It said that the two leaders would discuss bilateral relations as well as “key international and regional issues” and economic cooperation.
Relations between China and Russia have deepened in recent years, particularly since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 left Moscow shunned on the global stage and heavily reliant on Beijing for trade due to Western sanctions.
Read more here:
Putin to visit Chinese leader Xi Jinping days after Trump's trip to Beijing
Situation at Zaporizhzhia power plant reaching 'point of no return' -Russian nuclear chief
Monday 18 May 2026 16:26 , Alex CroftThe situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine is rapidly reaching the "point of no return", the head of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom was quoted as saying by Russian state news agencies on Monday.
Alexei Likhachev laid the blame for the situation on Ukrainian attacks - although Russian forces have occupied Europe’s largest power plant since 2022.
Mr Likhachev said there was approximately 2,600 tonnes of nuclear fuel still at the plant, which is under Russian control, according to the TASS state news agency.
Ukrainian finance minister demands more sanctions against Russia
Monday 18 May 2026 15:54 , Alex CroftUkraine's finance minister Serhii Marchenko said there was a need to increase sanctions against Russia, at the meeting of G7 ministers in Paris on Monday.
He expects the first disbursement to Ukraine from a previously agreed 90 billion euros (£78billion) EU loan in the beginning of June.
"We are finalising all necessary agreements. Probably it will be at the beginning of June," Marchenko told reporters.
"We need to continue to pressure Russia, to put additional sanctions on Russia," he added.
G7 ministers' meeting to discuss conflicts in Ukraine and Iran
Monday 18 May 2026 15:21 , Alex CroftEuropean Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Monday that the G7 finance ministers' meeting would discuss the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, and he reaffirmed the need to open the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible.
The meetings are currently underway in Paris - here are some images:
Russia launches 524 drones and 22 missiles overnight - Kyiv
Monday 18 May 2026 14:50 , Alex CroftRussia launched 524 drones and 22 missiles in overnight attacks targeting Ukraine, Ukraine's air force said on Monday.
Air defence units shot down or neutralised 503 drones and four missiles, the air force said in a post on Telegram.
It said that the main target of the attack was the city of Dnipro and the surrounding region.
Dozens of people have been injured, Ukrainian authorities added.
