Representatives from Russia and Ukraine began their fourth round of peace talks (Reuters) today. Meanwhile, senior U.S. and Chinese officials are meeting in Rome (Al Jazeera) to discuss the war in Ukraine, which China has refused to condemn. An unnamed U.S. official said Russia recently requested military aid from China, but Beijing dismissed it as “disinformation.” 

On Sunday, a Russian air strike hit a Ukrainian military base (RFE/RL) a few miles from Ukraine’s border with Poland, killing 35 people and injuring 134. Anti-war protests were held (AP) in Russia and in European capitals, including Berlin, London, and Warsaw. A Ukrainian presidential advisor said more than 2,500 residents of the port city of Mariupol have been killed (Reuters) as Russian shelling of Ukrainian cities continues.

To counter rising COVID-19 cases, authorities imposed a six-day lockdown (FT) in the city of Shenzhen, home to 17.5 million people. Apple supplier Foxconn and dozens of other factories halted operations.

This report by CFR’s Yanzhong Huang looks at China’s mixed response to the pandemic.

Philippines: In the first survey conducted during the Philippines’ election period, 60 percent of people said they would vote for Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (Nikkei), the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Al Jazeera reported that an election commission loophole and selective application of Facebook’s rules allowed political ads for India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that were not directly paid for or authorized by the party to run on Facebook in the lead-up to 2019 parliamentary elections. Facebook’s crackdown on such ads mostly targeted the opposition Congress Party.

Kazakhstan: Authorities detained the nephew (Reuters) of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev as part of an anticorruption probe.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility (WSJ) for a missile attack near a U.S. military base in Erbil, Iraq, saying it was in response to recent Israeli actions in the region.

Iran/Saudi Arabia: Iranian state media reported that Iran temporarily suspended talks (Reuters) aiming to defuse tensions with Saudi Arabia.

Representatives of Chad’s ruling military council and opposition rebels began talks (AP) in Doha, Qatar, as part of an effort to stop decades of conflict and hold presidential elections in eighteen months.

Mozambique: At least eleven people were killed (AfricaNews) and 115,000 people were affected by Cyclone Gombe.

Germany is reportedly planning to equip its air force (DW, Reuters) with up to thirty-five U.S. stealth jets after the government announced it is increasing its defense budget. 

On The President’s Inbox podcast, Liana Fix discusses how Germany’s new government is approaching foreign policy.

During Colombia’s presidential primaries on Sunday, former mayor of Bogota Gustavo Petro won the nomination (FT) for the left-wing Historic Pact coalition with nearly 4.5 million votes. Federico Gutierrez, former mayor of Medellin, won the right-wing nomination with about half as many votes.

Bolivia/Peru: During the inauguration of Chile’s president, Bolivian President Luis Arce and Peruvian President Pedro Castillo discussed several bilateral issues (MercoPress), including the possibility of Bolivia supplying Peru with liquefied petroleum gas.

Following a lawsuit by the state of Texas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that unaccompanied children arriving at the southern U.S. border will no longer be subject to Title 42 (AP), which allows authorities to rapidly expel migrants due to public health concerns.

This Backgrounder looks at the U.S. immigration debate.