(Reuters) – March 13 (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping is planning to visit Russia as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter said, while Moscow and Kyiv both reported intense fighting over the eastern city of Bakhmut, the war’s bloodiest battle.
GRAIN
* Negotiations began between U.N. officials and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin on a possible extension to a deal allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, the Russian diplomatic mission in Geneva said.
* A patchwork of fixes and increased crop plantings around the world to counter the impact of war in Ukraine on global grain supplies are not enough to ward off further risks of disruption.
DIPLOMACY
* Xi plans to travel to Russia to meet his counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter said, which would be sooner than previously expected.
* The Kremlin said the Academy Award for best documentary won by “Navalny”, about jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, showed “a certain element of politicisation” by Hollywood.
* Authorities in Indonesia’s popular holiday island of Bali have asked the central immigration agency to cancel a visa-on-arrival policy for Russian and Ukrainian nationals after tourists were found working illegally.
* One of Putin’s top allies said he doubts the Nord Stream pipelines were blown up by a pro-Ukrainian group, and said Moscow still does not know who exactly was behind it, Interfax reported.
ECONOMY
* The Kremlin on Monday, asked about reports that India is abiding by a price cap on Russian oil exports imposed by Western countries, said that it will be guided its own contacts with India, rather than by news reports.
* Russia’s industry ministry said it was expanding its list of brands that can be imported without the trademark owner’s permission to include IKEA and American toy manufacturers Hasbro HAS.O and Mattel MAT.O.
BAKHMUT BATTLE
* The situation in Bakhmut was difficult, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces said, though adding that his troops were repelling all Russian attempts to capture it.
* The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, which has led the assault on Bakhmut, said on Sunday the situation in the mining town was “tough, very tough … But we are advancing and we will be advancing”.
* The Wagner chief said his army would begin to reboot once Bakhmut was captured. “In particular, we will start recruiting new people from the regions,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a clip posted on Telegram channels associated with Wagner.
(Compiled by Reuters editors)
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