By Kavita Mistry 
Welcome back to another edition of My Take 5, your weekly wrap of international news. Ukraine war remains in flux, Trump is targeting Chinese ships, Pakistan and Bangladesh hold foreign secretary talks, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are back to shadow boxing, and Pope Francis passes away. So let’s get to it.
Ukraine war in flux: The war in Ukraine saw many unconnected developments over the past week, none of which brings us any closer to a ceasefire or a peace deal. First, two Chinese nationals were captured in Ukraine’s Donetsk oblast fighting for Russia. President Zelenskyy then revealed that Kyiv had information that more than 150 Chinese citizens are fighting for Russia in the war. Beijing, of course, has denied any official involvement. But it is not clear if Beijing had no role whatsoever in Chinese citizens joining the Russian army. After all, China has massively helped Russia in this war by supporting Moscow’s military-industrial complex, freely exporting dual-use tech, and even getting the Russian military the critical Western tech components it needed by bypassing sanctions. So, one wouldn’t be surprised if China’s United Front Work Department somehow facilitated these Chinese citizens to join the Russian army.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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