China, which declared a “no limits” alliance with Russia soon before Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine a year ago, called for a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine on Friday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in remarks published on Tuesday that Beijing’s voice should be heard, but the nuances of the proposal are important.

“Any attempt to formulate theses for reaching a peaceful settlement of the problem is welcome, but, of course, the nuances are important,” Peskov told the Izvestia daily.

Earlier, Peskov said any such initiatives that might bring peace closer were worthy of attention.

“We are paying a great deal of attention to the plan of our Chinese friends,” Peskov told reporters on Monday. “Of course, the details need to be painstakingly analysed taking into account the interests of all the different sides. This is a very long and intense process.”

He said Russia was continuing to prosecute what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, and for now did not see any signs suggesting a peaceful resolution could be achieved.

Ukraine intel chief sees no signs China plans to arm Russia

Ukraine’s head of military intelligence has brushed aside claims that China is considering furnishing arms to Russia, telling US media that he saw no “signs that such things are even being discussed”.

Senior US officials have said as recently as Sunday that they were “confident” China was considering providing lethal equipment to Moscow, with a diplomatic pressure campaign under way to discourage it from doing so.

But when asked about the possibility in a lengthy interview with Voice of America published on Monday, Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said: “I do not share this opinion.”

“As of now, I do not think that China will agree to the transfer of weapons to Russia,” he said. “I do not see any signs that such things are even being discussed.”

As China calls for ceasefire, EU again warns against supplying arms to Russia

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken aired Washington’s concerns about potential arms shipments in a tense meeting with his Chinese counterpart, and the director of the CIA said in an interview on Sunday that he believed Beijing was still weighing the possibility.

Meanwhile, media reports in multiple American outlets have cited unidentified US officials as saying China was deciding whether to provide drones and certain munitions to Russia.

Asked specifically about the US assessment, Budanov said: “I am the head of intelligence and I rely, with all due respect, not on the opinions of individual people, but only on facts. I do not see such facts.”

As to where Russia could still procure arms, Budanov said that apart from unconfirmed reports of shipments from North Korea, “almost the only country that actually transfers more or less serious weapons is Iran”.

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Russia fights to encircle Ukraine’s defenders in Bakhmut

Russian forces pressed their offensive in eastern Ukraine as they attempted to encircle the small mining city of Bakhmut, the scene of the toughest fighting in battlefields saturated by rain and an early spring thaw.

Russia is trying to cut the Ukrainian defenders’ vulnerable supply lines into the city and force them to surrender or withdraw. That would give Moscow its first major prize in more than half a year, and open the way to the capture of the last remaining urban centres in Donetsk region.

“The enemy is constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions for fortification and defence. Our soldiers defending the area around Bakhmut are true heroes,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.

Ukraine’s general staff said Russia had strengthened its forces in the Bakhmut area and was shelling settlements around the city.

Ukrainian soldiers in Donetsk region hunkered in muddy trenches after suddenly warmer weather softened the frozen ground.

“Both sides stay in their positions, because as you see, spring means mud. Thus, it is impossible to move forward,” said Mykola, 59, commander of a Ukrainian frontline rocket launcher battery, watching a tablet screen for coordinates to fire.

The spring thaw, known as the rasputitsa, has a history of ruining plans by armies to attack across the soil of Ukraine and western Russia, turning roads into rivers and fields into impenetrable bogs.

Reuters saw several military vehicles stuck in mud. In a trench, cut deeply out of the ground in a zigzag pattern, Volodymyr, a 25-year-old platoon commander, said his men were prepared to operate in any weather.

“When we’re given a target that means we have to destroy it.”

Its forces replenished with hundreds of thousands of conscripts called up late last year, Russia has intensified its attacks along the front in the east.

Western countries say several of Russia’s assaults on Bakhmut have failed at high cost.

“Vicious battles are going on there. The command is doing everything it can to stop the enemy from advancing through our territory,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern military command, told Ukrainian television.

For its part, Moscow claimed to have destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot near Bakhmut and shot down US-made rockets and Ukrainian drones.

02:45

One year on: Ukrainian war survivors struggle in the ruins of Mariupol

One year on: Ukrainian war survivors struggle in the ruins of Mariupol

Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said Russian forces had driven a wedge between the villages of Yadhidne and Berkhivka, on the northern approaches to Bakhmut, as they tried to cut the road west to Chasiv Yar.

“The southern part of Bakhmut is the only area which can be described as under Ukrainian control. In all other districts, the situation is unpredictable,” he said in a video commentary, adding: “It is impossible to say where the front line lies.”

Reporting by Bloomberg, Reuters, Agence France-Presse