IN BRIEF
China to Send Envoy to Ukraine in Search for ‘Political Settlement’
CATCHING UP
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he had a “long and meaningful” telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first chat between the two leaders since Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year. Chinese media also confirmed the conversation on Wednesday, quoting the Chinese leader as saying Beijing has “always stood on the side of peace.” The country says it will send a delegation to Ukraine in the hopes of reaching a “political settlement” in the war. Beijing released a peace proposal in February calling for a cease-fire but has been criticized for appearing to cozy up to Russia and refusing to condemn the war. After their phone conversation, Zelensky also confirmed he had appointed a new ambassador to China, naming Pavlo Riabikin, a former ambassador to Denmark.
Phone talk of Chinese and Ukrainian presidents lasted for an hour. . .
[Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gestures during a joint press conference with the Estonian prime minister after their meeting in Zhytomyr on April 24, 2023. GENYA SAVILOV / AFP ]
"I had a long and meaningful phone call with President Xi Jinping," Zelensky said on Twitter. "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. Zelensky's spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov said on Facebook that the two had "an almost one-hour-long telephone conversation."
Moscow on Wednesday accused Kyiv of undermining any peace attempts after the call. "The Ukrainian authorities and their Western minders have already shown their ability to mess up any peace initiatives," the Russian foreign ministry said, noting "the readiness of the Chinese side to make efforts to establish a negotiation process."
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that during the call Xi told Zelensky "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.
China also announced they will send a delegation to Ukraine with the aim of finding a "political settlement" to the conflict. "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 on Wednesday.
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According to a readout of the call, reported by CCTV, Xi said China "will neither watch the fire from the other side, nor add fuel to the fire, let alone take advantage of the crisis to profit."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Moscow's most important ally, in their first phone call since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. “I had a long and meaningful phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.51 mins ago
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