2023-04-27 00:02:09
Chinese President Xi Jinping told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodmir Zelensky on Wednesday that “dialogue and negotiation” were the only path to peace, in the first conversation between the two since the start of the offensive. Russian in Ukraine.
“On the issue of the Ukrainian crisis, China has always been on the side of peace, and its fundamental position is to promote peace dialogue,” the Chinese president was quoted as saying by state broadcaster CCTV.
“Dialogue and negotiation” are the “only way out” of the conflict with Russia, he said.
Zelensky confirmed in a tweet that he had a “long and meaningful” conversation with his Chinese counterpart.
The call lasted “almost an hour”, according to the spokesman for the president of Ukraine, and was “on the initiative of the Ukrainian side”, said the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
After the conversation, Zelensky announced the appointment of an ambassador to the Asian giant, a position vacant since February 2021. The position will be occupied by former Minister of Strategic Industries Pavlo Riabikin, aged 57, informed the Presidency.
The Chinese government announced, in turn, that “it will send a special representative […] Ukraine and other countries to maintain in-depth communication with all parties aimed at a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis”.
The phone call was the first between the two heads of state since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The last time Xi and Zelensky had spoken by phone was in July 2021.
Russia praised Beijing’s efforts, but criticized Kiev for “rejecting any initiative that seeks a political and diplomatic solution to the crisis”.
The United States and the European Union praised the Chinese gestures, waiting to know more details.
“We consider good news that there was a telephone conversation between President Xi and President Zelensky,” White House Homeland Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
“We would certainly welcome any effort to achieve peace, as long as it is fair, sustainable and credible” and that “President Zelensky” or his advisers are involved in it, he added.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, on a visit to Colombia, expressed the hope that this telephone conversation is “a first step for China to play a role [para] convince Russia to stop its aggression”.
A senior EU official, who requested anonymity, said the bloc encouraged China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to “share the global responsibility to uphold and enforce the UN Charter and the principles of international law. “.
The source added that the EU “takes note of China’s intention to send a special envoy to Ukraine” and hopes to know “more details” of this initiative.
Chinese ‘neutrality’
In February, Zelensky highlighted the need to “work” with China to resolve the conflict with Russia, and in March, he reiterated his desire to hold talks with Xi.
According to CCTV, Xi reminded Zelensky of his condemnation of any resort to nuclear weapons, including his 12-point plan for peace, published in February by the Chinese leader.
The initiative, presented a few months ago, also included a call for Moscow and Kiev to hold negotiations and advocated respect for the territorial integrity of all countries.
China has not condemned Russia’s offensive against Ukraine and in recent months has stepped up political and economic cooperation with neighboring Russia. The government claims, however, to have a neutral position on the conflict.
Beijing, in fact, neither recognized the Russian annexation, at the end of September, of four Ukrainian provinces, including Donetsk and Lugansk, in the east, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, in the south, nor did it recognize the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, in 2014.
Lula: ‘Make the war stop’
China and Russia are part of the BRICS, a bloc that brings together five large emerging economies, along with Brazil, India and South Africa. None of these countries supported the sanctions adopted by the West against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Brazil even provoked discomfort in Washington, when president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared, in mid-April, after visiting Beijing, that the United States encourages war in Ukraine.
Lula insisted, this Wednesday (26), in Madrid, that both parties should negotiate peace.
“Nobody can have any doubt that we Brazilians condemn the territorial violation that Russia committed against Ukraine. The mistake happened, and the war began,” Lula said at a press conference alongside the president of the government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez. .
But then he added: “Now there’s no point in saying who’s right or wrong. What needs to be done is to stop the war.”
France, on the other hand, said that it “supports any dialogue” that can “contribute to resolving the conflict” in Ukraine, “in accordance with the fundamental interests” of Kiev and “international law”.
Russia appeals to virility and calls ‘real men’ to war against Ukraine
#tells #Zelensky #negotiating #UkraineRussia #war #News