BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the phone on Wednesday (Apr 26), the first call between the two leaders since the start of Russia’s invasion.
Beijing says it is neutral in the Ukraine conflict and Xi has never condemned the Russian invasion, but the Chinese leader has come under increased pressure from Western nations to step in and mediate.
During the long-awaited call, Xi appealed for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that Xi told Zelenskyy “talks and negotiation” were the “only way out” of the war.
“On the issue of the Ukraine crisis, China has always stood on the side of peace and its core position is to promote peace talks,” CCTV reported Xi as saying.
He told Zelenskyy that China will send a delegation to Ukraine to hold talks on resolving the conflict with Russia.
“The Chinese side will send a special representative of the Chinese government on Eurasian affairs to visit Ukraine and other countries to conduct in-depth communication with all parties for a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,” China’s foreign ministry said at a press conference.
Xi said in early April he was willing to speak with Zelenskyy, who has repeatedly said he would be open to talks with his Chinese counterpart.
“I had a long and meaningful phone call with President Xi Jinping,” Zelenskyy said on Twitter on Wednesday.
“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,” he wrote.
Zelenskyy’s spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov said on Facebook that the two had “an almost one-hour-long telephone conversation”.
Pavel Ryabikin, who previously headed the ministry of strategic industries of Ukraine, was named Kyiv’s new envoy to China, according to a decree on the presidency’s website. Ukraine has not had an ambassador to China since February 2021.