Ukraine is trying to improve diplomatic relations with China, but communication at the leadership level remains “very difficult.”
Source: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Melnyk interview with Ukrayinska Pravda
Direct speech: “We are still trying to improve the position of official Beijing regarding Russian aggression… Unfortunately, communication has been and remains very difficult at the highest level – at the leadership level.
Both the government, and the president, and our entire diplomatic service tried before the war, and since the beginning of the war, and during the war, to find the key to this super-important state for us so that its position would be more favorable than today. So that it was not only this neutrality (which, in principle, we also appreciate).
We do not lose hope of reaching both the mind and heart of the Chinese leadership in order to rule out any alliance with Putin’s Russia.”
Background: Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, official Chinese authorities have repeatedly advocated early negotiations and a peaceful solution to the conflict.
At the diplomatic level, Beijing has backed Moscow by denouncing sanctions and abstaining from votes in the UN Security Council if the resolution concerns Russia.
On February 20, China said it was ready to work with other countries to achieve an early ceasefire and lasting peace in Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 21 that Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Moscow in the coming months for a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky believes that if China entered into an alliance with Russia, this “would be the beginning of a world war.”
