On Wednesday, Russia accused Ukraine of “undermining peace initiatives” by refusing to engage in dialogue with Moscow in response to the first phone conversation between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, a Kremlin ally, since the start of the Russian invasion. in Ukraine, the France Presse agency reports, citing Agerpres.

“The Ukrainian authorities and their Western supporters have already demonstrated the ability to undermine peace initiatives,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Moscow declares that it “takes note” of China’s desire to “strive to establish a negotiation process” between Russia and Ukraine, but reproaches Kyiv for “rejecting any rational initiative aimed at a political and diplomatic settlement of the crisis.”

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, in the spring of 2022, after the beginning of the Russian military intervention, Ukraine issued “ultimatums accompanied by notoriously unrealistic demands” and “suddenly rejected” the draft peace agreement.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has repeatedly accused Russia of issuing “ultimatums” and said he will not negotiate with Vladimir Putin, while insisting on the return of all territories occupied by the Russian military, including Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.

“Therefore, it is difficult for puppets controlled by Washington to accept any calls for peace,” the Russian Foreign Ministry claims.

Zelensky finally spoke with Xi Jinping

On Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced that he had a “long and meaningful” telephone conversation with Xi Jinping, an ally of Moscow, with whom he had long wanted to speak. His spokesman, Serhii Nikiforov, said that Zelenskyi and Xi talked for almost an hour, Kyiv mass media reported.

“I believe that this call, together with the appointment of the ambassador of Ukraine to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations,” Zelenskyi said on Facebook, without providing details.

According to the presidential decree, Zelensky appointed the 57-year-old former minister of strategic industries Pavel Ryabikin to the post of ambassador to Beijing, which has been vacant since February 2021.

Officially, China claims that it is neutral in this conflict, but Xi Jinping has never condemned the Russian offensive and has shown his support for Vladimir Putin.

The telephone conversation between the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyi took place at the initiative of Kyiv, the Chinese government announced on Wednesday, citing AFP.

Responding to questions on this topic during a press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry representative Yu Jun said that this unprecedented conversation since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022 took place at the “initiative of the Ukrainian side.”

What would Xi promise to Zelenskyi?

Xi told Zelensky that China would send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties seeking peace, Chinese state media reported, citing Reuters.

Xi, the world’s most powerful leader who has refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, made a state visit to Russia last month. Since February, he has been promoting a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine, received with skepticism by the West but wary by Kyiv.

China will focus on promoting peace talks and insist on an early ceasefire, Xi told Zelensky, Chinese state media reported.

“As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a major responsible country, we will not sit back and add gas to the fire, let alone try to take advantage,” Xi said, according to Reuters.

A step towards deeper involvement of China

The 14-month-old war is at a turning point as Ukraine prepares to launch a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months after Russia’s winter offensive, which has made only incremental progress despite the bloodiest fighting.

Ukrainian officials have long urged Beijing to use its influence with Russia to help end the war.

China says it is well-placed to mediate the conflict because it has not publicly supported either side.

According to some experts, Tuesday’s phone call is another step for China to become more deeply involved in resolving the conflict.

Western countries say China’s 12-point peace proposal with Ukraine is too vague, offers no concrete way out of the war, and could be used by Putin to push for a truce that would leave his troops in control of occupied territory in Ukraine. Reuters.

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