Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the telephone on Wednesday in what appears to be the two leaders’ first conversation since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The call also follows months of discussions between the Chinese and Russian presidents over the possibility of new mediation, led by China, to bring the war to an end.
The Ukrainian president said on Wednesday that the pair had a “long and meaningful phone call” in which they discussed several matters, including “ways of possible cooperation to establish a just and sustainable peace for Ukraine.”
Following the call, Zelenskyy also expressed optimism that relations between China and Ukraine can be substantially improved.
“I believe this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations,” Zelenskyy said.
According to Chinese state media outlets, China will send representatives to Ukraine and undertake peace talks with both sides.
In March, the Ukrainian president expressed his willingness to meet with the Chinese leader, telling The Associated Press that he would welcome him for a visit to Ukraine.
“I want to speak with him because I had contact with him before full-scale war,” Zelenskyy said in March.
When asked if he would invite Xi to Kyiv, Zelenskyy said, “Oh, yes, we are ready. We are ready to see him here.”
Chinese news outlets also reported that President Xi promised Zelenskyy he would continue to promote peace talks and make renewed efforts to establish a ceasefire as soon as possible.
“As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a responsible major country, we will neither sit idly by, nor pour oil on fire, still less seek to profit from it,” Xi said.
The Chinese president’s promise is particularly curious, given comments made by Zelenskyy on Wednesday following the call. The Ukrainian president, after confirming that the discussion took place, said that there must be “no peace at the expense of territorial compromises.”
If China is truly confident that peace is achievable, it could suggest that Xi already knows Russia’s real red lines, believes Kyiv can be convinced to cede some territory to Russia in the end, or has a compelling offer for Russia that makes withdrawing from Ukraine more attractive.
While Russia initially rejected China’s peace proposal, which was issued on the first anniversary of the war, President Xi has since met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and promised a new era of cooperation between the two countries.
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Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
