KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise visit Tuesday to Kyiv, stealing some of the attention from Asian rival President Xi Jinping of China, who met in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin to promote Beijing’s peace proposal for Ukraine that Western nations have already criticized.

The two visits, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) apart, highlighted the nearly 13-month-old war’s repercussions for international diplomacy as countries line up behind Moscow or Kyiv. Kishida, who will chair the Group of Seven summit in May, met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and paid tribute to those killed in Bucha, a town outside Kyiv that became a symbol of Russian atrocities against civilians.

After talks with Xi, Putin said a Chinese peace plan could provide a basis for a settlement of the fighting in Ukraine when the West is ready for it, but he added that Kyiv’s Western allies have shown no interest in that.

U.S. officials have said any peace plan coming from the Putin-Xi meeting would be unacceptable because a cease-fire would only ratify Moscow’s territorial conquests and give Russia time to plan for a renewed offensive.

“It looks like the West indeed intends to fight Russia until the last Ukrainian,” Putin said after his talks with Xi. He said the latest threat is a British plan to provide Ukraine with tank rounds containing depleted uranium. “If that happens, Russia will respond accordingly, given that the collective West is starting to use weapons with a nuclear component.”

He did not elaborate. Putin has occasionally warned that Russia would use all available means, including possibly nuclear weapons, to defend itself, but also has sometimes backed off such threats.

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III will travel to France and Germany for his first state visits since becoming monarch, Buckingham Palace said Friday, underscoring Britain’s efforts to build bridges with its European neighbors following years of strained relations caused by Brexit.

Charles and Camilla, the queen consort, are set to visit the European Union’s two biggest countries March 26-31, hosted by Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France and Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, the palace announced.

“The visit will celebrate the U.K.’s relationship with France and Germany, marking our shared histories, culture and values,″ the palace said. “It is also a chance to look forwards and show the many ways our countries are working in partnership, whether that be to tackle climate change; respond to the conflict in Ukraine; seize trade and investment opportunities or share the best of our arts and culture.″

Highlighting the significance of the trip is the fact that it will be the first state visit by a British monarch since 2015; the late Queen Elizabeth II, Charles’ mother, stopped traveling abroad in her later years.

The announcement came just days after Charles met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at Windsor Castle and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a breakthrough in talks to resolve the dispute over post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland.

Sunak will be anxious to use the soft power of the monarchy to highlight the thaw in relations between the U.K. and the EU, which have been strained by Britain’s decision to leave the bloc.

The trip to France and Germany is being made at the request of the British government and at the invitations of the two governments, the palace said.

The royals will travel first to France, where they will be greeted by Macron and take part in a ceremony of remembrance at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Charles will later meet with members of the National Assembly and Senate and attend a state banquet at the Chateau de Versailles.

The French leg of the trip will also include traveling to Bordeaux, which is home to a large British community. The royal couple plan to visit an organic vineyard and one of the areas devastated by wildfires last summer.

Charles and Camilla are scheduled to travel to Germany on March 29, where they will be greeted by Steinmeier and Charles plans to address the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament. Steinmeier will also host a state banquet for the royal couple.

Charles will also meet with Ukrainian refugees in Germany, visit a joint U.K.-German military unit and travel to Hamburg, where he will visit sustainable energy projects.

While Britain’s royals have ceded most of their powers to the nation’s elected leaders, the aura of the monarchy and the pomp and ceremony of royal visits are still seen as a way to burnish the U.K.’s image and bolster ties with nations around the globe.

This role was epitomized by Elizabeth, who made 121 state visits during her 70-year reign, leading royal historian Robert Hardman to dub her “Queen of the World.”

When Charles met with von der Leyen on Monday, Buckingham Palace was quick to stress that he was working in concert with the government.

“The king is pleased to meet any world leader, if they are visiting Britain, and it is the government’s advice that he should do so,” the palace said before that meeting.

The French leg of the trip may have a particular significance for Charles, who is said to have formed a close relationship with Macron because of the two men’s shared focus on protecting the environment and fighting climate change.

Mutual respect also was expressed by Germany’s president. In a video message, Steinmeier said he last met Charles at Elizabeth’s funeral and invited him to visit Germany as king. He said that Charles’ decision to visit half a year later shows how much the king values the friendship between Germans and Britons.

The German president said Charles’ decision to travel to Germany and France “is also an important European gesture.”

“I would like to say to him, but of course also to all Britons: We in Germany, we in Europe, want close and friendly relations with the United Kingdom after Brexit as well,” Steinmeier said.

In November, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa made the first state visit to Britain of Charles’ reign. But the visit had been in the works before the late queen’s death.

PARIS (AP) — From Renaissance art to couture and celebrity interruptions, Paris Fashion Week shows continued in vibrant form — presenting the French capital’s final trends for fall-winter 2023-2024.

Here are some highlights of ready-to-wear collections Thursday:

GIVENCHY GETS FEMININE

The once-street and urban Matthew M. Williams uttered a word not often heard describing his designs: Elegant.

“Yes, I love elegance and the house is a very elegant house. It’s easy to find that way when you’re here,” he said following his fall show for the Parisian stalwart.

Find it this season he did. Williams went back to Hubert de Givenchy’s DNA and moved in a more fluid, gentle and feminine direction than previous seasons. It was a fresh, welcome evolution from his harder-edged aesthetic.

Menswear tailoring in black angular shouldered gowns and coats provided subtle contrasts against feminine touches, such as sheer chiffon that poked out underneath caressing a naked leg.

Another sheer gown in pink chiffon with long fluttering train exposed hints of nipples and buttocks.

“I love that breath of air and skin and fluidity,” he said. “There’s always a dialogue with both, but the women’s is much more feminine (this season).”

Pieces were taken direct from the archive, such as a fish motif that the house founder once created, and Givenchy’s famed atelier made multiple couture garments including shimmering metal dresses, as well as evening gowns with off-kilter dropped or raised waists.

Beyond the fashion, Williams — an erstwhile collaborator with Kanye West and Lady Gaga — brings with him the razzmatazz that likely helped him get the job.

Jared Leto interrupted an interview with The Associated Press, exuberantly exclaiming: “Genius! Parfait! Beautiful. The best! And you can quote me.”

CHLOE’S HISTORY

Fall saw Gabriela Hearst growing in creative confidence with her beautiful and thoughtful Chloe display that riffed on the Renaissance.

Inspired by Artemisia Gentileschi, the pioneering 17th-century female painter, flattering scooped out shoulder details, long thick statement coats and flared textured pants were among standout garments that felt at once modern and historic — emanating a quiet feminist power.

The baroque musing was handled with subtlety. A giant A-line puffer cape in ruffled Elizabethan segments came in restrained and contemporary black. While harlequin-style gowns came in just three colors — black, white and muted red – toying with color blocking.

The piece de resistance?

An eye-popping multicolored tapestry dress with sporty straps that was constructed of fabulous paneled images. The tapestry was inspired by Gentileschi’s painting “Esther before Ahasuerus,” the house said, and made by Mumbai’s Chanakya International embroidery studio that provides hand embroidery training for women from low-income communities. Its vibrancy also evoked the Modernist paintings hanging above the venue at the Pompidou Center’s National Museum of Modern Art.

Champagne-sipping stars such as Emma Roberts applauded from the front row.

RICK OWENS’ DOUGHNUT

For fall, Rick Owens traveled again to the ancient world, specifically to the former pharaonic stronghold in the modern Egyptian city of Luxor. Yet the lauded American designer-cum-philosopher said the misery of the Ukraine war also influenced his collection.

“Times like these might call for a respectful formality and sobriety, with moments of delicacy as reminders of what is at risk and at stake,” he explained. Therefore, “clothes have been reduced to the simplest of shapes,” he added.

Fall proved that there’s simple, and then there’s Rick Owens simple. There was indeed an ancient rawness to slashed gowns, draped asymmetrically to reveal bare skin, in the collection of black and disco sheen.

A gargantuan inflated doughnut shape ticked the creative box and almost defied descriptions. It appeared in heavy rotation across the shoulder or on the front like a mouth devouring the chest. The shape also appeared doubled up in complex form in sequined violet and tan.

It was an effective and eclectic fusion of contemporary art and ready-to-wear.

Owens also deserves praise for his eco-efforts. The leather in this collection was prepared through “veg tanning,” meaning that only vegetal and natural tannins were used in the process of tanning and preserving the leather.

VALENTINO PERFUME LAUNCH

And where would Paris Fashion Week be without its parties?

Thursday’s installment was for the launch of Valentino’s Born In Roma Intense fragrance, which saw armies of VIPs descend on the ornate Gaite Lyrique in Paris’ Marais.

Under a décor of real forest branches, guests took photos of themselves in kaleidoscope contraptions, posed by giant strobe V staging, drank champagne and got made up by professional make up artists in preparation for a performance by Christine and the Queens.

SHANG XIA’S SIMPLICITY

The brand sometimes known as the “Chinese Hermes” among fashion insiders put out a wearable and loose collection for fall in pastels with flashes of black.

Creative director Yang Li of the brand launched in 2009, which also boasts Hermes investment, has a simple and effective approach.

Ties and knots created dynamic but gentle ruching in fabrics, alongside oversize red sweater-skirts that sported another skirt nonchalantly flapping out from underneath.

Backless and heel-less pointed leather stilettos were one of many fashion forward moments in a collection that gained power from not trying too hard.