KYIV: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to visit the war-torn country, saying they have not been in contact since the beginning of the war, and he is “ready to see him here in Kyiv.”
“I want to speak with Xi,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy told The Associated Press on Tuesday, the week after Xi Jinping visited Russian President Vladimir Putin last week. Beijing had no immediate response about whether the Chinese President’s visit to Ukraine would happen.
China has been politically favorable and economically aligned with neighboring Russia for decades. Beijing has provided Putin with diplomatic cover in the war. Xi Jinping, a powerful leader who commands the resources of the world’s most populous country, is an important player in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and even the lack of involvement of China is a potent statement.
Zelenskyy has extended invitations to Xi Jinping before in recent months, but this explicit call to visit comes days after the Chinese President visited Putin in Russia last week. But the Ukrainian President said he has not communicated with his Chinese counterpart for the duration of the conflict.
“We are ready to see Xi here,” Zelenskyy said. “I had contact with him before full-pledge war. But during all this year, I did not have.”
Speculations about Chinese president’s possible visit to Ukraine
In Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was asked whether Xi Jinping would accept an invitation from Volodymyr Zelenskyy — or whether one had been officially extended. The spokesperson told reporters she had no information about the visit. She did say that China maintains “communication with all concerned parties, including Ukraine.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked whether a summit between Zelenskyy and Xi would be useful to resolve the Ukraine conflict, said Russian authorities “highly appreciate” the balanced position of China on the issue and “have no right to come up with any advice” on whether the two leaders should meet.
During his daily conference call with reporters on Wednesday, Peskov said the Chinese leader himself decides the appropriateness of certain contacts.
Xi’s Mosco visit last week raised the prospect that China might be ready to provide Russia with the weapons and ammunition it needs to refill its depleted stockpile. But Xi Jinping’s trip ended without any such announcement. Days later, Vladimir Putin announced that he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which neighbours Russia and pushes the Kremlin’s nuclear stockpile closer to NATO territory.
Zelenskyy suggested Vladimir Putin’s move was intended to distract from the lack of guarantees he received from China.
“What does it mean? It means that the trip was not good for Russia,” Zelenskyy speculated.
