China to send senior envoy to Ukraine and Russia in quest for peace talks
- Li Hui will also visit Poland, France and Germany in the search for a political solution to the conflict
- Li will be the highest-ranking Chinese official to go to Ukraine since the invasion
China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, will visit Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia from Monday to discuss a solution to the Ukraine crisis.
Li, a vice-ministerial level diplomat, will be the most senior Chinese official to set foot on Ukrainian soil since Russia mounted its invasion in February 2022.
“The visit of Chinese representatives to relevant countries is another demonstration of China’s commitment to promoting peace and talks. It fully demonstrates that China is firmly on the side of peace,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Friday. “The current crisis in Ukraine is prolonged and escalating, and the spillover effect continues.
“China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in building more international consensus on a ceasefire, initiation of peace talks, and prevention of escalation of the situation ... to promote a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. France emphasises China’s peacekeeping role in Russia’s war in Ukraine
The special representative’s visit was first announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in his call with his Ukrainian counterpartVolodymyr Zelensky last month, their first conversation since the war began. Beijing has been under tremendous pressure from Washington and its allies to do more to mediate in the war.
While making repeated calls for peace, China has not condemned Russia for its aggression.
It presented a 12-point position paper in February, the first anniversary of the war, but the document stopped short of offering specific suggestions to end the conflict.