China to send special envoy to Ukraine after Xi Jinping holds phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky
- China has always stood ‘on the side of peace’, Xi tells Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during hour-long call
- Zelensky, who initiated the call, has described it as ‘long and meaningful’
In the nearly hour-long phone call, Xi told Zelensky that “talks and negotiation” were the “only way out” of the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has already led to direct casualties of more than 350,000 soldiers in all.
Xi stressed that China has always stood “on the side of peace”, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Zelensky, who initiated the call, described it as “long and meaningful” and said it would “give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations”, according to a message posted on Twitter.
Xi told Zelensky that China will send a delegation headed by Li Hui, Beijing’s special representative on Eurasian Affairs, as special envoy to Kyiv and “other countries”.
The envoy will help conduct “in-depth communication” with all parties involved to “find a political settlement to the Ukraine crisis”, he said.
Li was the Chinese ambassador to Russia between 2009 and 2019 and is a familiar face to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had “taken notice of China’s willingness to facilitate negotiations with Ukraine”.
“We note the readiness of the Chinese side to make efforts to establish the negotiation process,” Zakharova said during a news conference on Wednesday.
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The call took place at a critical moment ahead of the much-anticipated Ukrainian counter offence, which could happen as early as next week, according to media reports on leaked Pentagon documents.
It also comes after China floated a plan in February to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia. Putin met Xi in person in March and said at the time that the Chinese plan could provide “a basis to end the conflict”.
This makes Xi the only leader from a major power who proposed a peace plan that both Putin and Zelensky have indicated they would consider. The leaders of France, Germany, India and Brazil had also talked to both sides, but none came up with a feasible peace proposal.
02:03
China to send envoy to Ukraine after Xi and Zelensky hold first call since Russian invasion
China has faced mounting criticism from the US-led West over its refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion and its close economic ties with Moscow.
Xi had multiple calls with Putin since the invasion and even met the Russian leader face-to-face in Moscow in March – the first overseas trip for the Chinese leader since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.
During their visits to China two weeks ago, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had urged Xi to call Zelensky.
Xi had replied that the conversation could happen when the “conditions and time are right”, according to von der Leyen.
During Wednesday’s call, Xi pledged long-term cooperation with Ukraine and said mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity was the foundation of China-Ukraine relations. He did not mention the invasion or name Russia at all.
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“No matter how the winds and clouds change internationally, China is willing to work with Ukraine to push for mutually beneficial cooperation,” Xi was quoted as saying by CCTV.
“Dialogue and negotiation is the only feasible way out,” Xi said. “Rational ideas and voices are increasing at the moment, [we] must seize the opportunity and accumulate conditions for a political solution to the crisis.”
There was no mention of how the peace negotiation would be conducted or if there would be any preconditions. Moscow and Kyiv remain poles apart in their respective positions.
But the call marks a diplomatic coup for Xi and China. Without directly naming the US, Xi told Zelensky that China would never “add fuel to the fire” in the war or seek to take advantage of it.
Chinese official statements often used these terms in their criticism of the Western arms supply to Ukraine.
At a presser in Beijing after the phone call, a Chinese scholar also took the opportunity to refute the Western narrative that painted Beijing as Moscow’s accomplice in the war.
He said the US had tried to portray the war as a simple conflict between two camps and a struggle between good and evil.
“They had tried to paint China as a member of one camp, disregarding the fact that we have taken no position, made no action to escalate the conflict and always tried to broker peace.”
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China did not agree with the simple and binary narrative and believed a political solution through negotiation was the way to end the crisis, he added.
In a statement on his official Telegram page, Zelensky said: “Particular attention was paid to the ways of possible cooperation to establish a just and sustainable peace for Ukraine.
“Peace must be just and sustainable, based on the principles of international law and respect for the UN Charter. There can be no peace at the expense of territorial compromises.”
The war, which began on February 24, 2022, has shown no signs of slowing down. Russia also announced it would deploy some of its nuclear weapons in Belarus, raising fears that the conflict could escalate into a nuclear hot war.
Xi on Wednesday also cautioned all “relevant parties” to “remain calm and constrained” when it came to nuclear weapons, and “jointly manage the crisis with views of the future and destiny of the humankind”.
03:41
Xi and Putin deepen China-Russia partnership in Moscow talks, but no Ukraine peace deal details
Zelensky told Xi that Ukraine would adhere to the “one-China principle” and look forward to comprehensive cooperation with Beijing, CCTV said.
He also thanked China for its humanitarian aid to Ukraine and welcomed Chinese efforts to push for peace and dialogue, the report said.
Zelensky has named Pavel Ryabikin, former Ukrainian minister of strategic industries, as the new ambassador to Beijing.
The post had been vacant since February 14, 2021, when Kyiv’s then envoy to Beijing, Serhii Oleksiyovych Kamyshev, passed away.
Initial reactions to the phone call from Washington were cautious.
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John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, said it was too soon to tell if the call would lead to a peace proposal.
“The call may have more symbolic significance and substance, but it’s very important,” said Huang Jing, director of the Institute of the US and Pacific Studies at Shanghai International Studies University.
“It means China is willing to get involved in the Ukrainian crisis, but it remains to be seen when and how”.
Additional reporting by Shi Jiangtao
