Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that he has “no doubt” Russia has wrongfully detained a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested last week on espionage charges.

Blinken said the legal process to formally determine Evan Gershkovich's wrongful detention would be completed soon, elevating his case with the Biden administration.

"I’ll let that process play out," Blinken said at NATO headquarters in Brussels. “In my mind, there is no doubt that he is being wrongfully detained by Russia."

On Sunday, Blinken had a rare phone call with  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, urging Moscow to immediately release Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, who has been held since 2018. Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison; Gerhkovich is being held pending trial.

Russian lawyers for Gershkovich, the son of Soviet immigrants, have appealed his arrest, and the Journal has adamantly denied Moscow's spy claims.

US CONDEMNS DETENTION: Wall Street Journal held in Russia; Finland receives Turkey endorsement to join NATO: Updates

Developments:

►Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Poland President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw and received that nation's highest state award – the Order of the White Eagle.

►White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed that Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov was summoned to the State Department on Thursday, the day Gershkovich was arrested.

►94% of Ukrainians hold negative views of the Russian Federation, according to a sociological survey by the Ukrainian Razumkov Center. Even among Ukrainians who communicate primarily in Russian, 88% had negative views of Ukraine's neighbor.

China downplays ties to Russia as Macron makes pitch to Xi

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a Chinese diplomat downplayed the growing ties between his country and Russia. Macron said he wants to “engage China toward a shared responsibility for peace and stability” in Ukraine and elsewhere. Topics of discussion could include condemnation of nuclear arms, support for the protection of civilian infrastructure and rejection of the abduction of children.

Macron spoke with President Joe Biden ahead of the trip about their "common desire to engage China to accelerate the end of the war," the French government said.

Meanwhile, China’s ambassador to the European Union dismissed Russia and China’s much-discussed declaration of a “no limits” friendship. Fu Cong told The New York Times that China was not on Russia’s side in the war, had not provided military assistance to Russia and had not recognized its annexation of Crimea, the Donbas and other Ukrainian land.

"'No limit’ is nothing but rhetoric," he told the Times.

Putin accuses West of aiding Ukrainian sabotage

Western intelligence agencies have provided support for Ukraine's acts of sabotage, Russian President Vladimir Putin told members of his Security Council on Wednesday, urging his officials to confront them “harshly and effectively.''

Putin focused on shelling and terror attacks on the four Ukrainian provinces the Kremlin illegally annexed in September, where several Moscow-appointed officials have been killed and wounded in bombings and other surprise attacks.

“There are reasons to believe that the capabilities of third countries, Western special services, have been involved in preparation of acts of sabotage and terror attacks,” Putin said without providing evidence.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. has provided Ukrainian forces information since the early days of the war to help them defend their country and regain territory taken during the Russian invasion. He declined to give details but added: "We do not enable nor do we encourage the Ukrainians to strike outside of Ukraine."

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine Russia war live updates: Blinken defends WSJ reporter