2023-04-26 15:13:16
This is a historic call, which took place on the initiative of kyiv. Chinese Presidents Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke by telephone, an unprecedented conversation since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, “at the initiative of the Ukrainian side”, according to Yu Jun, representative of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Foreign Affairs, questioned on this subject on Wednesday.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a “long and meaningful” meeting with his Chinese counterpart. “I had a long and meaningful telephone conversation with the Chinese president,” he said on Twitter, information confirmed by the Ukrainian presidency to AFP. He also said he hoped for “a powerful surge in the development of bilateral relations” between Kyiv and Beijing. In the process, Volodymyr Zelensky appointed by decree a Ukrainian ambassador to China.
Encouragement from France
France “encourages any dialogue” likely to “contribute to a resolution of the conflict” in Ukraine “in accordance with the fundamental interests” of Kiev and “international law”, reacted in the wake of the Elysee. “This is the message conveyed by the President of the Republic during his state visit to China”, underlined the entourage of Emmanuel Macron. During this trip in early April, Paris said that Chinese President Xi Jinping had said he was ready to call his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky when the time came, without setting a date.
For its part, Russia accused Ukraine of “undermining peace initiatives” by refusing dialogue with Moscow, after this telephone conversation. “Ukrainian authorities and their Western backers have already demonstrated their ability to undermine peace initiatives,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Moscow also said it “takes note” of China’s desire to “strive to set up a negotiation process” between Russia and Ukraine, but criticized Kiev for “rejecting any sensible initiative aimed at a political and diplomatic settlement of the crisis”.
According to the Russian ministry, Ukraine issued “ultimatums with knowingly unrealistic demands” and “suddenly rejected” a draft peace agreement in the spring of 2022, in the wake of the start of Russian military intervention . Officially, China claims to be neutral in the conflict, but Xi Jinping never condemned the Russian offensive and showed his support for Vladimir Putin.
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