Ukraine invited China’s foreign minister for a meeting amid growing dialogue that could potentially lead to a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The announcement comes on the heels of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba‘s first wartime visit to China last week, where he met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi described the dialogue between Kyiv and Beijing as “developing very dynamically.”
“Did Minister Kuleba’s visit to China bring a potential meeting of the leaders of Ukraine and China closer? It indisputably did,” Tykhyi said at a briefing in Kyiv. However, he cautioned that it was premature to speculate on when such a meeting might occur.
The spokesman revealed that Kyiv has invited Wang to visit Ukraine, and Beijing has expressed interest in the proposal.
“We are ready to welcome Minister Wang Yi in Ukraine to see first-hand the consequences of the Russian aggression against our country and hold deeper bilateral talks with him on a number of bilateral, regional and international issues,” Tykhyi explained.
During his visit to China, Kuleba engaged in “very deep and concentrated” talks with Wang, emphasizing Ukraine’s stance on potential peace negotiations. He reiterated that Kyiv would only engage in talks with Russia if Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were fully respected.
While China portrays itself as neutral in the ongoing war, it has maintained close ties with Moscow and abstained from participating in a Kyiv-organized peace summit in June. Beijing has provided diplomatic support to Russia and has played a role in sustaining its wartime economy.
Zelenskyy and Xi only spoke once by telephone in April 2023. Tykhyi indicated that work is ongoing to arrange a possible future meeting.
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