It could be at least a few weeks before we see a Russia-Ukraine peace agreement: Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine will take at least “a few weeks,” despite Russia becoming more “adequate,” adviser to the Ukrainian president Mykhailo Podolyak told Bloomberg.

The US and China still don’t seem to be on the same page over the conflict, with a two-hour phone call between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday seemingly not making a lot of progress. A White House readout of the conversation said that Biden warned the Chinese leader of “implications and consequences” of assisting Russia’s military campaign, while a statement from Beijing criticized the “sweeping and indiscriminate sanctions” imposed on Moscow by the West.

China could face US sanctions if it supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: “Sanctions are certainly one tool in the toolbox,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters when asked about the punitive measures under consideration by US officials.

ON THE GROUND-

Russian forces are close to taking the strategic southern port city of Mariupol: Following several weeks of shelling, Russian troops have reportedly now entered the city, and are engaged in heavy fighting in the streets with Ukrainian fighters, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing a statement from the Azov Battalion, an ultranationalist militia fighting alongside the Ukrainian army. Taking the city would mark a major strategic victory for Moscow, and would open up a corridor linking the separatist Donbas region in the east to Crimea in the south.

Russia said it launched hypersonic missiles against Ukraine last week on a weapons depot in the western region, Russian news agency Interfax reported yesterday. If true, it would be the first-ever known use of such missiles in combat. Hypersonic missiles are weapons designed to fly at more than five times the speed of sound.

PLANET WAR FINANCE-

Russian oil finds a willing buyer as Europe cuts imports: India has quadrupled its imports of Russian oil this month, buying up several cargoes as European traders cut their purchases in response to the West’s sanctions on Moscow, the Financial Times reports.

Russia’s largest steel producer is at imminent risk of default: Severstal still hasn’t come good on a coupon payment on a USD bond, and will officially be in default if it fails to pay at the end of its grace period tomorrow, Bloomberg reports. If the firm fails to pay in full by Tuesday, it could become the first Russian company to default on its debt since Western companies started declaring financially crippling sanctions on Moscow.