EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell on Wednesday hailed the first phone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since the start of the Russian invasion, hailing it as an “important first step,” AFP reported.

“It is very important for China to talk with Ukraine. I want to repeat that we all want peace (…) But everyone must understand that it is not necessarily any kind of peace,” said a Spanish official who was in Bogotá.

“This is not the peace of someone who is forced to surrender to a brutal invasion, but it should be a just peace that recognizes the rights of the Ukrainian people, the “sovereignty” and “integrity of the borders” of Ukraine, the Spaniard stressed.

Xi Jinping assured Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Wednesday that China is “always on the side of peace” and called for “negotiations.” This is the first known exchange of words between the two statesmen since the beginning of the war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

“I welcome this conversation, I hope this is the first step for China to play a role in persuading Russia to stop its aggression,” Borrell said.

Earlier, an EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, welcomed the call, saying he was glad all “channels of communication were open”.

European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron “conveyed President Zelenskyi’s request” for such a call “during a meeting with President Xi in Beijing.”