CHINESE President Xi Jinping has spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the first time since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Beijing saying it wanted to send an envoy to Kyiv to serve as a mediator to pursue a “political settlement”.
The phone call on Wednesday lasted nearly an hour and was “long and meaningful”, according to the Ukrainian president.
“I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations,” Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter.
The first known wartime phone call between the two leaders comes after Xi and Zelenskyy both said they were willing to speak to each other following Xi’s visit to Moscow in March.
Chinese state media said Wednesday’s call was made at Zelenskyy’s invitation and that Xi told the Ukrainian president that as a responsible nation, Beijing could not be a “bystander” to the conflict.
“On the Ukraine crisis, China always stands on the side of peace and China’s core position is to promote peace via talks,” the Global Times quoted Xi as saying during the call.
A Chinese foreign ministry statement said an envoy – a former ambassador to Russia – would visit Ukraine to seek a “political settlement”.
The statement struck a positive tone, giving a nod to Kyiv’s insistence that its territory cannot be broken up by Russia’s annexations and making clear that Beijing values its long-standing ties with Ukraine.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova praised Beijing’s “readiness to strive to establish a [peace] negotiations process” but also said Kyiv had rejected “any sound initiatives aimed at a settlement”.
At the White House, the United States also welcomed the phone call between the two leaders but said it was too soon to tell if it would lead to a peace deal.
