Mr Biden, the US president, will use the G20 summit for his first meeting with Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, it was also announced on Thursday. China has largely refrained from criticizing Russia’s war in Ukraine, but has so far stopped supplying Moscow with weapons. Sullivan said Biden would discuss Ukraine with Xi and praised the Chinese president’s recent criticism of Russian threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Ahead of the G20 summit, General Mike Milley, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Russia and Ukraine should “seize the moment” to restart dialogue on a possible end to the conflict. He said Russia and Ukraine have seen around 100,000 soldiers killed or wounded and negotiations will depend on whether both sides accept they cannot achieve victory on the battlefield, adding that a potential stalemate in the fighting winter could provide a “window of opportunity” for negotiations. On Thursday, Ukraine announced the liberation of 41 settlements after Russia announced it was leaving Kherson. Kiev forces entered the front-line village of Snikhurovka, about 30 miles from the city of Kherson, early Tuesday. By evening, there were unconfirmed reports that they had reached Chornobaivka, a suburb 10 miles from the city. Mikhailo Podolyak, an aide to Mr Zelensky, warned that there could be heavy fighting for the city and that Russia could use artillery from the east side of the river to destroy it. General Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, ordered the withdrawal of all Russian troops from the right bank of the Dnieper River in a televised meeting with the Russian commander in Ukraine on Wednesday. General Sergei Surovikin said the position was untenable and that the retreat was necessary to save the lives of Russian soldiers. However, the decision was widely accepted by Russian propagandists as a defeat.
