Russian-Ukraine peace talks on hold until end of Middle East war: presidential advisor

Peace talks between Ukraine and Russia will remain on hold as long as the war in the Middle East continues, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said on Saturday.

Podolyak said that due to the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, the political and military parts of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia have been suspended, while the humanitarian track continues to operate.

He said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and head of the presidential office Kyrylo Budanov have announced the possibility of continuing advancing prisoner exchanges, and related efforts are already underway.

The three astronauts of the Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceflight mission have boarded the spacecraft for a flight to China’s Tiangong space station.

The Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship is scheduled to blast off at 23:08 Beijing Time (15:08 GMT) from northwest China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The three Chinese astronauts, commander Zhu Yangzhu, spacecraft pilot Zhang Zhiyuan and payload specialist Lai Ka-ying, climbed aboard the spaceship with the help of technicians.

Following the launch, the astronauts will complete an in-orbit rotation with the outgoing Shenzhou-21 crew, and one of them will conduct a one-year in-orbit stay, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

Notably, astronaut Lai Ka-ying is also the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's manned spaceflight program, and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.