China’s Xi holds first call with Ukraine’s Zelenskiy since Russian invasion

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by telephone on Wednesday Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, after months of pressure from Kyiv for such talks.

Xi told Zelenskiy that China would send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties seeking peace, Chinese state media reported.

Xi, the most powerful world leader to have refrained from denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, made a state visit to Russia last month. Since February, he has promoted a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine, greeted with scepticism from the West but cautiously welcomed by Kyiv.

China will focus on promoting peace talks, and make efforts for a ceasefire as soon as possible, Xi told Zelenskiy, according to the Chinese state media reports.

“As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a responsible major country, we will neither sit idly by, nor pour oil on fire, still less seek to profit from it,” Xi said.

The 14 month war is at a juncture, with Ukraine preparing to launch a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months, following a Russian winter offensive that made only incremental advances despite the bloodiest fighting so far.

Ukrainian officials have long been calling on Beijing to use its influence in Russia to help end the war.

China has emerged as a major buyer for Russian oil that can no longer be sold in Europe, and a firm critic of Western sanctions against Moscow, but has held back from openly supporting the invasion. The United States has said in recent months it was worried about China providing weapons or ammunition to Russia, although Beijing denies any such plans.

In early April, the Chinese president said he was willing to speak with Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy had repeatedly asked Xi to meet him or speak to him, including after the Chinese leader visited Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last month. Read full story

China says it is positioned to help mediate the conflict because it has not taken sides publicly.

Western countries say China’s 12-point peace proposal for Ukraine is too vague, offers no concrete path out of the war, and could be used by Putin to promote a truce that would leave his forces in control of occupied territory.