After a meeting with Lula, Xi calls for “more voices” to be gathered for “a political solution”…

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Wednesday to “bring together more voices committed to peace in order to open the way to a political solution” to the war in Ukraine, the official Xinhua news agency reported. He made this statement to the press after a meeting with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as part of his state visit to Brasilia.

The Biden administration, although critical of antipersonnel mines because of their danger to civilians, sought on Wednesday to justify its decision to send such weapons to Ukraine.

“The mechanized forces are no longer in the lead. They are advancing on foot in order to approach and do things to open the way for the mechanized forces,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, speaking of a change in Russian tactics on the battlefield. The Ukrainians “need things that can help slow down this effort on the part of the Russians,” he added as the advance of Russian troops accelerates in eastern Ukraine.

And, according to Lloyd Austin, the mines supplied by the United States are “non-persistent” that is to say equipped with a self-destruction or self-deactivation device, which would theoretically limit the risks for civilians. They can self-destruct or become inactive after losing battery charge.

Hello everyone. Like every day, the editorial staff of 20 Minutes is mobilized to give you all the information on the conflict.

Before Donald Trump's return to the White House on January 20, Joe Biden is stepping up his support for kyiv a little more every day. Washington announced on Wednesday new American military aid to Ukraine of some 275 million dollars. In this one, one point is controversial: it notably contains the delivery of antipersonnel mines. This choice also comes a few days after Washington gave the green light to Volodymyr Zelensky to strike on Russian territory with American-made long-range missiles, used in the process by kyiv, a red line for Moscow.