The reactions to the Trump administration’s decision to pause some weapons shipments to Ukraine couldn’t be more illustrative of the conflict: welcomed by the Kremlin, branded “inhumane” by Kyiv.

It was the latest in a series of almost weekly large-scale missile and drone attacks. President Trump said he “didn’t make any progress” with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

The United States said it would pause the delivery of some weapons to Ukraine as the Pentagon conducts a review of its munition stockpiles.

During a high-level meeting with European Union (EU) officials, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly told EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas that China cannot afford for Russia to lose the war in Ukraine.

Wang is said to have rejected the accusation that China was materially supporting Russia’s war effort, financially or militarily, insisting that if it was doing so, the conflict would have ended long ago.

The European Union's top diplomat urged China's foreign minister on Wednesday to end restrictions on rare earths exports and warned that Chinese firms' support for Russia's war in Ukraine posed a serious threat to European security,