After months of pressure from Kyiv and Western leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by phone on April 26th.
This marks the first time the two leaders have spoken since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.
Although details of the conversation have not been revealed, Zelenskyy tweeted that the call was "long and meaningful" and expressed his hope that it would give a "powerful impetus" to bilateral relations. Ukrainian officials have been urging Beijing to use its influence in Russia to help end the conflict.
According to Chinese state media reports quoted by Reuters, Xi told Zelenskyy that China will focus on promoting peace talks and make efforts for a ceasefire as soon as possible. Xi also said that China is neither the creator nor a party to the Ukraine crisis and that it would not watch idly by, add fuel to the fire, or profiteer from it.
Xi further stated that China would send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties seeking peace to "conduct in-depth communication" on politically resolving the Ukraine crisis. Additionally, Beijing accepted Kyiv's request to send a new ambassador.
China has not publicly denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine but says it is positioned to help mediate the conflict because of its neutral stance. Since February, Xi has promoted a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine, which Western countries have criticized as too vague and offering no concrete path out of the war.
The call comes only days after China's Ambassador to France made controversial remarks questioning the sovereignty of post-Soviet countries, which were later retracted by the leadership in Beijing. French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly developed a plan with China to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table in the coming months after his visit to Beijing.
An Elysée official said that Macron encouraged any dialogue that can contribute to a resolution of the conflict in accordance with the fundamental interests of Ukraine and international law. The official also claimed that Macron played a role in making the call happen. Photo by President.gov.ua, Wikimedia commons.