<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Kyiv welcomed reported Chinese comments criticizing threats to use nuclear weapons as G20 leaders met in Indonesia on Tuesday, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the spotlight.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping "underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine," the White House said in a readout of a meeting in Indonesia between the two leaders on the eve of the summit.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">A readout of the Biden-Xi meeting on China's foreign ministry website made no use of the word "nuclear" but said: "Conflicts and wars produce no winner ... and ... confrontation between major countries must be avoided."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly suggested Russia could use nuclear weapons to defend its territorial integrity, interpreted in the West as an implicit threat to use them over lands Moscow claims to have annexed in Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Xi and Putin have grown close in recent years, bound by their shared distrust of the West, and China has refrained from publicly criticizing Russia for the invasion or from calling on it to withdraw its troops.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Zelensky, who had earlier visited Kherson, the biggest prize his troops have recaptured since the invasion began in February, welcomed Monday's remarks.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"It is important that the United States and China jointly highlighted that the threats of using nuclear weapons were unacceptable," Zelensky said in a late Monday address. "Everyone understands to whom these words are addressed."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Zelensky is due to address the G20 summit via video link on Tuesday.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The United States expects the G20 group of industrialized nations to condemn Russia's war in Ukraine and its impact on the global economy, a senior US official said.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Russia is a member of the group so consensus on Ukraine is unlikely, and the official declined to say what form the condemnation would take.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Speaking in Bali, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Putin's government would hear the chorus of global opposition to its actions.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Russia's actions put all of us at risk," he said at the summit in Indonesia, where he is expected to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Russia has said Putin is too busy to attend the summit.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">To help avoid conflict escalation, CIA Director William Burns met in Turkey on Monday with Russian foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin to convey the consequences should Putin use nuclear weapons, a White House spokesperson said.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Waiting for army</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In Kherson, Zelensky shook hands with soldiers and waved to civilians on Monday as he was escorted by bodyguards three days after his troops swept into the city.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">General Assembly to vote on resolution recognizing Russia must be responsible for reparation in Ukraine</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">View shows destroyed military vehicles after Russia's retreat from Kherson, in Kherson</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">View shows the destroyed Antonivskyi bridge over the Dnipro river after Russia's retreat from Kherson, in Kherson.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Kherson city had been the only regional capital captured by Russia since the invasion and Putin had proclaimed it "eternally Russian" six weeks ago.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Ukraine has repeatedly said it is ready for peace, but will not cede territory.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Ukrainian servicemen accept no talks, no agreements or compromise decisions," Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny wrote on Telegram late on Monday after a telephone conversation with the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Olga Fedorova, an English teacher in Kherson throughout the occupation, said lack of electricity or mobile internet connection meant many were unaware of events until Ukrainian troops raised their flag in the main square on Nov. 11.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"We couldn't believe, we still can't believe that our Ukrainian army is here," she said. "We have been waiting for them all this time, all this eight and a half months."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Zelensky said Ukraine had gathered evidence of at least 400 war crimes committed by Russian troops during their occupation of the area, including killings and abductions.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Russia denies its troops target civilians or have committed atrocities. Mass burial sites have been found in other parts previously occupied by Russian troops, including some with civilian bodies showing signs of torture.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Residents in and around Kherson interviewed by Reuters since Friday have described killings and abductions.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Reuters reported one account of a neighbour shot dead and three accounts of people carried off by troops in the village of Blahodatne north of Kherson.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">It was not possible to verify the accounts independently.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The United Nations General Assembly on Monday voted to approve a resolution recognizing that Russia must be responsible for making reparations to Ukraine, in a non-binding move backed by 94 of its 193 members.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">To the north and east of Ukraine, there were reports of fierce clashes and artillery bombardments along the front lines that stretch more than 1,000 km (620 miles).</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"The enemy is attempting to hold temporarily occupied territory and is continuing to equip areas on the east bank of the Dnipro River," Ukraine's armed forces' general staff said in a Facebook post on Monday evening.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"It is maintaining its offensive actions near Bakhmut and Avdiivka," the statement added, referring to areas in eastern Donetsk region where the heaviest fighting has been taking place.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Russia's defence ministry was quoted by RIA news agency as saying its forces had taken the village of Pavlivka in Donetsk.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Neither sides' accounts could be independently confirmed.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Russia says it is waging a "special military operation" in Ukraine to rid it of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine and the West describe the Kremlin's actions as an unprovoked war of aggression. Reuters</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>