Diplomacy
Chinese envoy says Ukraine, Russia must ‘start with themselves’ to create space for peace talks
- Special envoy Li Hui leaves Kyiv with promise to cooperate, but few details on ceasefire plan during peacemaking trip
- Li next heads to Warsaw and Brussels as Beijing attempts to forge political solutions to Ukraine war
China’s special envoy Li Hui said his country and Ukraine would continue efforts to cooperate for “mutual benefit” as he wrapped up a two-day visit to Kyiv, part of Beijing’s latest attempt to push for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday. Li, who met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, “elaborated on China’s position on a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine”, the foreign ministry said in a statement, without giving more details.
He also called for the two warring parties to “start with themselves, build up mutual trust and create conditions to stop the war and talk”, and that Beijing was willing to make its own efforts to push forward a ceasefire, the statement added. The ministry’s readout made no mention of how Beijing’s peace proposal was received by Kyiv. During meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday, Li also met other senior officials, including the head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and the chiefs of the infrastructure, energy and national defence departments.
During the meetings, “the two sides exchanged views on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis and China-Ukraine relations”, the Chinese statement said. They also agreed to “work together to continue the tradition of mutual respect and sincere treatment between the two sides, and move their mutually beneficial cooperation forward continuously”, it said.
Kyiv was the first stop for Li, 70, who is China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs and a former ambassador to Russia. He was appointed as a peace envoy to Ukraine after a long-anticipated phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Zelensky three weeks ago. Li’s Kyiv visit came as Ukraine stepped up counter attacks against Russia. On Tuesday, Ukraine had shot down all six Kinzhal missiles – Russia’s most potent hypersonic weapon – launched at the capital during an “exceptionally intense” nighttime attack, according to Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s civil and military administration.
On Thursday, Ukraine claimed another series of “unprecedented” air strikes had hit its capital and other regions early that day, after an agreement with Russia to extend a deal allowing grain exports across the Black Sea on Wednesday. In response, Ukraine said its air defence forces had shot down 29 out of 30 Russian cruise missiles fired overnight.
“A series of air attacks on Kyiv, unprecedented in their power, intensity and variety, continues,” Popko said, adding that no casualties had been reported in the capital. In a separate statement released on Wednesday, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said Kuleba had told Li that Kyiv would not accept any proposals to end the war that involved it losing territory or freezing the conflict. “Kuleba briefed the special envoy of the Chinese government in detail on the principles of restoring a sustainable and just peace based on respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Ukrainian ministry said.
It was not clear from the Chinese statement if freezing the conflict was part of Li’s proposals during his meetings with the Ukrainian officials. Instead, it said Ukraine “welcomed the active role played by China in ending the war and restoring peace”. According to the Polish foreign ministry, Li was expected to visit Warsaw on Thursday, staying until Sunday. Sources told the Post that Li will also meet European Union officials in Brussels next week.
Brussels was not on Li’s itinerary when Beijing announced his peacemaking tour to Europe, which also includes stops in France, Germany and Russia. Earlier, the Polish foreign ministry’s spokesman Lukasz Jasina told Agence France-Presse that Li would meet with Poland’s deputy foreign minister in Warsaw during his stay in Poland.