For the first time since the war in Ukraine began, Chinese President Xi Jinping has chatted with his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. Until now, the boss of the second world power had exchanged impressions with all the important players around the Russian invasion, except with the leader of the country attacked by Moscow. Finally, Xi, wanting to reaffirm his position as the great mediator in the peace negotiations, has picked up the phone to contact the Ukrainian president.
“I had a long and significant phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. I believe that 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,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter after end the call.
Regarding the reading that the official media in Beijing have made of the conversation, they have highlighted that Xi told Zelensky that China will send a “special representative of the Government on Eurasian affairs” to visit Ukraine and other countries to “carry out in-depth communication with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis”. Also that Xi assured that China “is always on the side of peace and that China’s central position is to promote peace through talks.”
A couple of months ago, the Ukrainian extended a formal invitation to the Chinese president to visit him in Kiev, shortly after Xi’s trip to Moscow took place and Vladimir Putin announced that he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
The Kremlin rolled out the red carpet for its powerful Chinese neighbor, knowing that it was going to provide it with much-needed economic oxygen in the face of the rain of sanctions. Xi did not disappoint his partner. He confirmed his strategic support and strengthened trade agreements with Russia.
A month later, already in April, it was the new Chinese Defense Minister, Li Shangfu, a veteran general sanctioned by the United States for precisely buying weapons from Russia, who chose Moscow as his first international trip, also becoming the first visit of a Chinese defense chief since the Russian army launched the invasion. Li had a meeting with Putin. Both promised to strengthen military cooperation between the two countries.
On today’s turbulent game board, Beijing has been juggling a great balancing act ever since the war began, supporting Putin as he seeks to redirect relations with Europe and continues to spread influence across the so-called global South.
One year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, from Beijing they launched a “peace plan” focused on 12 points in which respect for the sovereignty of all countries was requested and a call for a ceasefire, while at the same time in another section, they charged against international sanctions against Russia and Putin’s security concerns regarding the expansion of NATO towards Eastern Europe were considered legitimate.
The plan was welcomed by Ukrainian President Zelensky, although he said it would only be acceptable if it led to Moscow withdrawing its troops from all occupied Ukrainian territory.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project