Brussels: Europe and the Arabs - agencies
A senior EU official welcomed the phone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. The official indicated that the phone conversation opened channels of communication between the two countries.
Earlier today, China Central Television reported that President Xi Jinping held a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, during which he stressed that negotiations are the only way to resolve the conflict, and stressed that Beijing will make every effort to stop the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible.
   This comes after the commander of NATO forces in Europe, Christopher Cavoli, announced that Ukraine had received more than 98% of the tanks and armored vehicles promised by the United States and its allies to mobilize its counterattack.
"The Ukrainians and I calculated how many weapons they would need for this to carry out a counterattack. At the moment, more than 98% of combat vehicles have been delivered to Ukraine," Cavoli said at a hearing in the US House of Representatives.
He pointed out that NATO carefully monitors the destination of weapons sent to Ukraine.
The commander of the Russian special forces, "Ahmed", Apti Alaudinov, confirmed that the counterattack of the Kiev forces will end in a resounding defeat for them, because they will lose their soldiers and there will be no one left in their ranks to defend them.
While Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that the Ukrainian counter-offensive will take place in the spring and will allow the "liberation" of the entire territory of the country.
Kuleba said during an interview with the Italian TV channel Sky Tg24: "There will be a Ukrainian spring offensive, but I will not say its timing. Because I do not want to facilitate the task of the Russian intelligence.. "We are preparing, we are preparing our armed forces, and the only purpose of the counterattack is to liberate the Ukrainian lands To take back what is ours."
According to Kuleba, the Kiev authorities will accelerate the preparation of the attack in terms of providing military equipment, ammunition and weapons, so that the counterattack will be effective.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Schmygal said in early April that a Ukrainian counteroffensive could begin in the summer, but later said it would start "in the near future".
US media reported that the Ukrainian counterattack was scheduled for April 30. On the other hand, experts interviewed by RIA Novosti indicated that believing the contradictory statements of Kiev and Washington is not possible, and this may be part of an orchestrated misinformation campaign.