A phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky took place on Wednesday, April 26, affirmed Beijing and Kyiv, marking the first communication between the two leaders since the commencement of Russia’s invasion.
Although China claims neutrality in the Ukraine conflict and Xi has refrained from denouncing the Russian invasion, Western nations have exerted mounting pressure on the Chinese leader to intervene and mediate between Ukraine and Russia.
A 12-point “position paper” issued by China in February was perceived as displaying bias in favor of Russia by various Western governments. Xi’s amicable visit to Moscow in March to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin attracted widespread criticism as he did not broach the topic of efforts to terminate the war.
Zelensky has consistently expressed willingness to engage in discussions with his Chinese counterpart, and the telephone call on Wednesday was instigated by the Ukrainian side, as stated by Yu Jun from China’s foreign ministry during a press conference.
Zelensky shared on Twitter, “I had a long and meaningful phone call with President Xi Jinping.”
He further added, “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.”
Zelensky’s spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov announced on Facebook that the two leaders had “an almost one-hour-long telephone conversation”.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that Xi, in response to Kyiv’s initiative, conveyed to Zelensky that “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,” according to CCTV’s report on Xi’s remarks.
As per the conversation’s summary, Xi assured that 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”.
“When dealing with the nuclear issue, all parties concerned should remain calm and restrained, truly focus on the future and destiny of themselves and all mankind, and jointly manage and control the crisis,” Xi stated.
China also pledged to dispatch a delegation and a “special representative” from its government to Ukraine with the goal of reaching a “political settlement” to the conflict.
In the 12-point peace paper from February, a “political settlement” to the crisis was advocated, positioning China as a neutral party and urging the two sides to engage in peace negotiations.
Its primary point emphasized the effective preservation of “the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all countries”.
Beijing’s paper urged Russia and Ukraine to resume peace talks, highlighting that “dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution”.
“The international community should stay committed to the right approach of promoting talks for peace, help parties to the conflict open the door to a political settlement as soon as possible, and create conditions and platforms for the resumption of negotiation,” the paper stated.