Antony Blinken meets Xi Jinping in Beijing | First Thing

Russia urged to fulfil ‘obligations under international humanitarian law’ as death toll from destruction of Kakhovka dam rises to 52. Plus, who really came up with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos?

Good morning.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is meeting China’s president, Xi Jinping, in Beijing. The talks between Blinken, who is on the first visit to China by a US secretary of state in five years, and Xi began at 4.30pm (0830 GMT).

How did the talks go? The US state department called the talks – which were held at an ornate state villa and included a banquet dinner – “candid, substantive and constructive” although they did not appear to make concrete progress on disputes that include Taiwan, trade, human rights and fentanyl.

What did Qin say? Behind closed doors, Qin told Blinken that relations between the US and China “are at the lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations”, according to the state-run broadcaster CCTV. “This does not conform to the fundamental interests of the two peoples, nor does it meet the common expectations of the international community,” Qin was reported as saying during the talks at the ancient Diaoyutai gardens.

What caused the dam to collapse? A team of international legal experts assisting Ukraine’s prosecutors in their investigation said it was “ highly likely” the dam’s collapse was caused by explosives planted by Russians.

What else is happening? The Russian military has “highly likely” started relocating troops from the eastern bank of the Dnipro River to Bakhmut and Zaporizhzhia, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update. “The DGF [Dnipro Group of Forces] redeployment likely reflects Russia’s perception that a major Ukrainian attack across the Dnipro is now less likely following the collapse of Kakhovka Dam and the resulting flooding,” the MoD writes.