► Kishida will meet Zelensky in Ukraine
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in kyiv on Tuesday March 21 for a surprise visit, the Japanese foreign ministry announced.
Fumio Kishida will “convey to President Zelensky his respect for the courage and perseverance of the Ukrainian people who defend their home under his leadership, as well as the unfailing solidarity and support for Ukraine from Japan and the G7”, including the country of Asia is hosting this year, the ministry explained.
► Xi Jinping says he invited Putin to visit China “this year”
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is on a state visit to Russia, said on Tuesday that he had invited Vladimir Putin to visit China this year, a sign of the ties that unite these two countries in full tension with the West.
“Yesterday I invited President Putin to come to China this year, when he can,” Xi Jinping said during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Michoustin, according to comments reported by Russian news agencies.
► Russia says it repelled a drone attack in Crimea
Russian authorities said on Tuesday that they had shot down Ukrainian drones in Crimea the day before, a few days after a visit by President Vladimir Putin to this peninsula annexed by Moscow.
Monday evening, “the anti-aircraft defense repelled a drone attack near the city of Djankoy, in Crimea”, declared in a statement the Russian Investigative Committee, the body responsible for the most important investigations. “The targets of all the downed drones were civilian infrastructure,” he added.
The governor installed by Moscow in Crimea reported a person injured by the fall of debris from a drone shot down on a house and a store.