It was Chinese state media that first reported that the two leaders have finally spoken.
Xi announced when he traveled to Moscow last month, on an official visit to President Putin, that he would soon contact President Zelenskyi.
China had then put forward a peace plan with 12 different points, without having spoken to the Ukrainian president.
Since then, Zelenskyy has called for the promised conversation.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yu Jun said at a press conference that today’s talk was initiated by the Ukrainian side.
– I have had a long and meaningful telephone conversation with President Xi Jinping, Zelensky wrote afterwards on Twitter.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Vladimir Putin about a month ago.
Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP
China provides a special envoy
The hope from the Ukrainian side is that China, which is a close ally of Russia, can influence the Russian president to stop the war in Ukraine.
According to Chinese media, Xi is said to have said that talks and negotiations are the only way out of the ongoing conflict.
He must be informed that China will send a special envoy to Ukraine.
This special envoy with helpers will have in-depth talks with all parties involved in the war to look for a way out of it, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
Ukraine, for its part, will send a new ambassador to China. The ambassador post has been vacant for the past two years. The chosen one is Pavlo Riabikin, recently resigned industry minister with diplomatic experience.
Today’s contact will be the first between Zelenskyj and Xi after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the neighboring country in February last year.
China has so far not condemned or directly criticized the Russian invasion and warfare. During votes on the war in the UN, the Chinese UN ambassador has abstained from voting, thus avoiding taking sides for one of the sides.
The reactions from the outside world are positive
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says in a comment that they note that China is ready to facilitate negotiations and take the lead in such a process.
In the United States, a spokesman for the White House, John Kirby, says that they are happy about the newly established contact between Zelenskyj and Xi, but that it is too early to say whether this can lead to a peace proposal.
French President Emmanuel Macron is one of the Western leaders who, throughout the year of war, has had contact with the Russian president.
An unnamed official in the French president’s staff says in a comment that France will encourage any dialogue that can help find a solution to the war.
– This was also the message from the president during his visit to China, says the official.
Listen to the podcast:
You need javascript to play the audio clip “War in Ukraine: Revenge against the traitors”.
2023-04-26 15:50:39
#China #sends #special #envoy #Ukraine
