March 21, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

A senior Ukrainian air force official says that Ukraine needs modern combat aircraft as it squeezes the most out of its diminishing Soviet-era fleet.

Ukraine needs "modern multi-purpose aircraft capable to perform a wider range of tasks than the old Soviet equipment that is in service," and Ukrainian pilots need to be trained up quickly on such planes, said Serhiy Holubtsov, Chief of Aviation of the Air Force Command.

He added that Ukraine has the capability to store and protect its aircraft.

For now, Ukrainian pilots are skillfully using old Soviet aircraft and "squeezing the maximum out of that equipment," Holubtsov said, adding that a recent test of Ukrainian pilots in the US showed that they can be trained in less than six months.

Some context: So far no western government has pledged F-16s to Ukraine, though several have said they would not object to Ukraine acquiring the plane. Sweden has not ruled out supplying Gripen fighters to Ukraine but has no firm plans to do so. Slovakia and Poland have announced plans to send Soviet-era combat planes to Ukraine. 

NATO has "seen some signs" that Russia has likely requested lethal aid from China to bolster Moscow’s war in Ukraine, the alliance’s secretary general said Tuesday.

“China should not provide lethal aid to Russia. That would be to support an illegal war,” Stoltenberg warned. 

The NATO chief's comments come as China's Xi Jinping meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, Beijing has claimed impartiality in the conflict, but echoed Kremlin rhetoric blaming NATO for the conflict, refused to condemn the invasion, and backed Moscow financially by significantly increasing purchases of Russian fuel.

Stoltenberg said Xi's three-day state visit to Moscow signals the closer ties developing between China and Russia in recent years.

“We see how China and Russia are coming closer and closer in the military domain — joint exercises, joint patrols, naval and air patrols — in the economic domain and also in the political and diplomatic domain,” Stoltenberg said. “So the meeting in Moscow is part of that pattern where China and Russia are working more and more closely and building a stronger and stronger partnership.”

CNN's Simone McCarthy contributed reporting to this post. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to hold official joint events in the Kremlin on Tuesday, including two rounds of Russia-Chinese negotiations, a ceremony for signing documents, statements for the press and a state dinner.

While we await those, here's everything you need to know so far about Xi's three-day state visit to Moscow:

"Thorough" exchange of views: The two presidents had a “thorough” exchange of views during a face-to-face meeting in Moscow on Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, though he refrained from commenting on the outcome of the first day of Xi’s visit to Russia.

China's "peace plan": Peskov confirmed that Putin and Xi discussed China’s “peace plan” during their first meeting of the visit, which lasted four and a half hours. He did not disclose any further details.

Deep skepticism: Western allies remain skeptical of any breakthrough over the war in Ukraine. Top US diplomat, Antony Blinken, said the Chinese leader’s visit provides “diplomatic cover” for Moscow.

China's "strategic choice" to develop relations with Russia: On Monday at the Kremlin, the Chinese leader said developing relations with its “biggest neighbor” was a “strategic choice” on the basis of Beijing’s “own fundamental interests and the prevailing trends of the world.”

He called for the two countries to “strengthen coordination and collaboration on multilateral platforms such as the UN to boost their respective national development and rejuvenation,” according to a readout from China’s Foreign Ministry.

The meeting also provides an opportunity for China to further expand an economic relationship that has only grown more lopsided following Russia’s expulsion from the global financial system.

Fighting has raged around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut for weeks as Russian forces and Wagner mercenaries have attempted to capture it, in the face of dogged Ukrainian resistance.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN that Russian troops would have an "open road" to capture key cities in eastern Ukraine if they seized control of Bakhmut.

In the last 24 hours, Russian forces have continued to focus their attacks in the Bakhmut direction, Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for the Eastern Grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said on national television Tuesday. 

He added that "26 combat engagements and 1 air strike happened."

In the area of the city of Bakhmut itself, 59 attacks and 13 combat engagements took place, Cherevatyi said. 

Heavy Russian artillery fire has also continued in the Lyman-Kupyansk direction, with "several hundred attacks per day, usually more than 300, sometimes more than 400," he said, adding that there were 344 attacks and 17 combat engagements over the last 24 hours in the area.

"In that direction, the enemy also began to use armored vehicles more often, usually standard Soviet or Russian vehicles," Cherevatyi said. "The only new weapon is a Lancet drone. This is something that they have not used on a m

assive scale before."

Russian and Ukrainian forces are caught in a grinding battle for control of the eastern Donetsk region, in scenes of some of the most intense fighting during the invasion.

Read more on the fight for Bakhmut here:

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In a series of high-profile diplomatic trips, where Russia's war on Ukraine is expected to be at the top of the agenda, Chinese President Xi Jinping continues his three-day trip to Moscow Tuesday, where he is holding talks and other joint events with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

And Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is in Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Here are the latest developments:

A senior Ukrainian official told CNN Tuesday that discussions are underway with China to organize a call between the Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss Beijing’s proposal for a peace plan for Ukraine. 

If the conversation does happen, it would be the first to take place between the two leaders. But the senior Ukrainian official added that “nothing concrete has been scheduled.” 

The Chinese leader is currently on his first trip to Russia since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday Putin and Xi had a “thorough” exchange of views during a face to face meeting Monday. Peskov confirmed Putin and Xi discussed China’s “peace plan” during their first meeting which lasted four and a half hours, without disclosing any more details.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has arrived in Ukraine's capital as part of a "historic visit," Emine Dzheppa, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said Tuesday. 

"Ukraine is happy to welcome Japan's PM Kishida Fumio. This historic visit is a sign of solidarity and strong cooperation between Ukraine and Japan," she said in a post on her official Twitter account, accompanied by a picture showing the arrival. 

"We are grateful to Japan for its strong support and contribution to our future victory," she added. 

At least 8,317 civilians have been killed and at least 13,892 have been injured across Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a statement released Monday. 

The highest numbers of civilian casualties were recorded in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the OHCHR numbers show. 

The numbers are based on information collected up until March 19, 2023, OHCHR said, providing the following details:

Citing intense hostilities, OHCHR said the reports from some locations are delayed and many are still pending corroboration and so "the actual figures are considerably higher."

Among those areas are the cities of Mariupol in Donetsk region, as well as Lysychansk, Popasna, and Severodonetsk in Luhansk region, "where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties," the agency said. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a “thorough” exchange of views during a face-to-face meeting in Moscow on Monday, the Kremlin said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refrained from commenting on the outcome of the first day of Xi’s visit to Russia, during which the presidents are expected to discuss Beijing's proposition on resolving the conflict in Ukraine.

“A thorough exchange of views took place,” Peskov told reporters, saying that the leaders will elaborate during their press statements on Tuesday.

He also confirmed Putin and Xi discussed China’s “peace plan” during their first meeting of the visit which lasted four and a half hours, without disclosing any more details.

Putin and Xi are also expected to hold official joint events in the Kremlin on Tuesday, including two rounds of Russia-Chinese negotiations, a ceremony for signing documents, statements for the press and a state dinner.

However, senior officials in Kyiv and the United States have warned that they predict the meetings will have little impact on the conflict in Ukraine, where Russia's invasion has prompted a mass humanitarian crisis and left tens of thousands dead.

CNN's Simone McCarthy contributed reporting.