Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy plan to speak by video link in what would be their first conversation since Russia’s invasion, a Ukrainian official familiar with the preparations said.
No date has yet been set for the conversation, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that aren’t yet public. There was no immediate comment from Zelenskyy’s press office. The session would come after a visit by Xi to Moscow expected next week, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
There was no immediate official confirmation of that trip from Russia or China. But both countries have said for weeks that a Xi visit was in the works as China seeks to position itself as a broker to end the war in Ukraine while it maintains close ties to the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in February he was looking forward to hosting Xi in Moscow, and China’s annual National People’s Congress legislative session wrapped up on Monday.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has long sought talks with China, which had emerged as one of Russia’s largest global supporters amid the conflict.
Beijing last month released proposals to achieve peace in Ukraine, its most ambitious diplomatic foray into the conflict, but they were quickly rejected as one-sided by Kyiv’s allies in the U.S. and Europe.
Zelenskyy was less categorical, saying at the time, “It’s good that China has started to talk about Ukraine” and welcoming Beijing’s commitment to the principle of territorial integrity.
For its part, Russia welcomed the initiative, which came days after Putin hosted Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi at the Kremlin.
Xi’s diplomatic foray into the Ukraine conflict would come as the U.S. and China remain at odds on a broad range of issues. Washington and Kyiv have warned Beijing against providing lethal aid to Moscow, something China so far says it has no plans to do.
Although Xi last week accused the U.S. of seeking to encircle and contain China, some of his harshest direct criticism to date, new Premier Li Qiang on Monday appeared to open the door for talks to resume between Washington and Beijing. Xi is expected to speak soon with U.S. President Joe Biden to put the relationship back on track after tensions over an alleged Chinese spy balloon derailed positive momentum following a November summit.
China achieved a major diplomatic win late last week, when it helped facilitate an agreement by Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore diplomatic ties.
At the meeting of Group of 20 foreign ministers in New Delhi in early March, Russia and China rejected wording on the war that had been agreed at the leaders’ summit in Indonesia less than six months before. They teamed up to block India, the host country, from negotiating a compromise.
