April 5, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Western officials believe Ukraine has been carrying out deep strikes and stockpiling some ammunition ahead of an expected counteroffensive in the coming months. 

“Some of those deep strikes against Russian [positions in southern Ukraine] are a preparation for any kind of future offensive,” the officials said. “We have seen consistently throughout the campaign is the Ukrainians have been very adept at targeting those accurate HIMARS systems against specific Russian targets.”

The officials also said Ukraine would be stockpiling ammunition ahead of a counteroffensive, but they hadn’t noted any shortages that would have limited day-to-day operations.

“From what we see, they’re receiving those supplies at the moment,” they added.

Western officials have told CNN they believe Russia has a problem generating “trained military manpower." 

The officials told CNN they had seen Russia increase the conscription duration and widen the age range, but noted they hadn’t made an effort at launching a second mobilization. 

“Whether the population can sustain another round of mobilization and whether the Kremlin actually wants to test the population's resilience to that it is unclear at the moment, but the fact they haven't done would indicate to us that they have some concerns about that,” the officials said.

The officials went on to say that in addition to getting people in Russia to join the military, Moscow had difficulties in providing them with training. 

“We've seen Russian units been trained in Belarus, we've seen other Russian localized forces being pushed straight into the front with no training whatsoever,” they said.

“They've got a real problem in generating trained military manpower.”

Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday awarded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with the Order of the White Eagle during a ceremony at the presidential palace in Warsaw.

The Order of the White Eagle is "the oldest and highest Polish award," and is presented to "outstanding individuals," Duda said in the presence of Zelensky and the two countries' first ladies.

"He is a unique man. You, Volodymyr, are unique. Having received the mandate from your people, you suddenly were called to a unique mission that nobody could have foreseen," Duda said. 

"None of us a year ago, after the Russian invasion, could have known what would happen to Ukraine and what would happen personally to you. Undoubtedly, we know that your position, together with the stance of the heroic Ukrainian people ... will save Ukraine from the Russian aggression," Duda added, calling Zelensky "a man of outstanding qualities."

Zelensky and his wife, Olena Zelenska, are in Poland for what is being billed as the most comprehensive state visit the Ukrainian president has undertaken since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

He thanked Duda, the government and the Polish people for standing "shoulder to shoulder" with Ukraine and giving fleeing Ukrainians shelter. "We believe this is a historic relationship," Zelensky said.

CNN’s Vasco Cotovio contributed to this report.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has traveled to neighboring Poland for an official visit to the country, one of its closest partners. He is expected to sign bilateral agreements before a press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda at 6 p.m. local time (midday ET).

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are visiting Beijing, a trip France has framed as a high stakes chance to push China to do more for peace in Ukraine, but where European economic interests will also loom large.

Here are the latest headlines:

Europe must continue to work together with China on issues of importance such as trade and the war in Ukraine due to “our shared responsibility for peace and stability," French President Emmanuel Macron said at the French Residence in Beijing on Wednesday.

This comes as Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen both visit Beijing. France has framed this visit as a high stakes chance to push China to do more for peace in Ukraine, but where European economic interests will also loom large.

China can play a “major role” in the conflict in Ukraine because of its close relationship with Russia, he said, adding that it would be wrong to allow Russia to have exclusive dialogue with China regarding the path toward peace in Ukraine. 

On the issue of trade, Macron said that Europe must not dissociate or separate from China, calling it a “fatal mistake” for Europe. 

The UK has blocked a webcast of a UN meeting on Wednesday in which Russia’s children’s commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova is due to speak.

She is accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children.  

Russia has called the informal meeting to discuss the “evacuation” of Ukrainian children from the war zone. 

A Russian representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, responded on Twitter saying: “[Western countries] would of course prefer to continue to spread lies and fakes on Russia’s alleged “stealing children” from Ukraine. Our meeting is threatening this mendacious narrative and therefore is like a bone in their throat.”

He also promised retaliation, saying “as a mirror move Russia will from now on block UN webcasts of all similar meetings citing “UK censorship clause.””

Britain also said its ambassador would not be attending the meeting. 

The session is due to take place at 10 a.m. ET Wednesday in New York according to Russia’s mission at the UN. Lvova-Belova is expected to appear virtually. 

Russia took over the presidency of the UN Security Council on April 1. 

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived at Beijing Capital Airport on Wednesday for a three-day state visit to China, live TV footage showed. 

He is expected to meet and hold talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to “plan and chart course for bilateral relations, deepen cooperation, and have an in-depth exchange of views on major international and regional hotspot issues,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday. 

US President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Macron ahead of his visit. 

“The two leaders discussed President Macron’s upcoming travel to the People’s Republic of China (PRC),” the White House said in a readout of the call on Tuesday. “They also reiterated their steadfast support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression.” 

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is also visiting China, in a three-day trip that coincides with Macron’s.  

Ukraine will be an “important topic" of von der Leyen's meetings with Chinese President Xi and Premier Li Qiang, she said in a tweet. 

“How China continues to interact with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war will be a determining factor for EU-China relations going forward,” von der Leyen said in Brussels last week. 

The visits come at a moment of heightened tensions in the US-China bilateral relationship and as Biden and European leaders grapple with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

It also comes less than a month after Xi traveled to Moscow to meet with Putin.

While the US and its Western allies have continued to warn China against providing lethal aide to Putin’s war effort, economic ties between Russia and China have rapidly accelerated over the course of the conflict.  

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has crossed the border into Poland to begin an official visit to his country's neighbor and one of its closest partners, according to the president's office and Polish media.

Marcin Przydacz, head of Ukraine's Presidential Office of International Policy, told Polish broadcaster TVN24 that Zelensky is expected at the Presidential Palace at 11:00 a.m. local time.

The Ukrainian and Polish presidents are expected to deliver a joint address at 6:00 p.m. local time.

Unlike Zelensky's previous visits abroad since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, he is travelling with his wife. 

During his visit, the Ukrainian president will sign bilateral agreements and hold talks with both Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. 

He will also meet with representatives of Polish business within the framework of the Ukrainian-Polish business forum, leaders of the upper and lower houses of Poland's Parliament, and the mayors of cities bordering Ukraine.

Ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's three-day trip to China, he spoke with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, according to the Elysée Palace.

In a readout, Elysée Palace said the two heads of state discussed their common desire to engage China to accelerate the end of the war in Ukraine and to participate in building a lasting peace in the region. 

They also jointly expressed their wish to obtain from China a contribution to the global North/South solidarity effort and to build with China a common agenda on climate and biodiversity, according to the readout.

Macron will arrive in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon local time.