Your Evening Briefing: Biden Seeks a ‘Just Peace’ as Zelenskiy Arrives in US

US President Joe Biden welcomed Volodymyr Zelenskiy to the White House Wednesday in the Ukraine leader’s first trip abroad since Russia attacked last February. “Three hundred days, it’s hard to believe,” Biden told Zelenskiy in the Oval Office, remarking on the length of time that has elapsed since Vladimir Putin started his war, one in which Russian forces have killed potentially tens of thousands. Biden voiced hope for a “ just peace,” but the visit comes at a critical stage of the war: Ukraine has faced a barrage of missile and drone attacks targeting civilians and energy infrastructure in recent weeks, leading to power and water cuts in brutal winter weather. Zelenskiy has pleaded for more advanced weapons systems to blunt Russian attacks and for additional energy and economic support. His arrival in America also coincides with the Republican Party’s preparations to take control of the House of Representatives, with many of its members publicly skeptical of the level of US assistance to Kyiv. As for Putin, who has called up hundreds of thousands of untrained recruits to reanimate his stalled attack, he contends Russia has “ no limitations” on military spending, and urged his army, which has repeatedly failed to deliver on his declared goals, to continue the war.

That’s not what they want to hear in Beijing it seems. Russia has at times been labeled a “ junior partner” when mentioned in the same breath as China. Well, the senior partner just made clear that it wants peace talks held over the war on Ukraine. China, along with India, has been backing away from Russia of late due to the conflict. Now Xi Jinping has told former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he’s been “actively promoting peace,” and that the two sides should “conduct comprehensive talks.”