Chinese leader Xi Jinping walks past an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport on Monday.
Anatoliy Zhdanov/Kommersant Photo/AFP via Getty Images
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, over a month after Xi’s summit with Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin.
Xi made the call after weeks of intensifying pressure from Western leaders to use his influence with Putin to broker a deal toward ending the yearlong conflict in Ukraine, triggered by Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
This was the first known call between Xi and Zelenskyy since the Russian invasion.
Writing on Twitter, Zelenskyy said the call was “long and meaningful” but there were no specifics on whether they talked of ways of finding an end to the conflict.
I had a long and meaningful phone call with ๐จ๐ณ President Xi Jinping. I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations.
โ ะะพะปะพะดะธะผะธั ะะตะปะตะฝััะบะธะน (@ZelenskyyUa) April 26, 2023
Xi’s call comes as the Chinese leader has sought to play the role of peacemaker, having brokered a deal to mend fences between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia. However, chances of a breakthrough in the Ukraine conflict are slim, given how far apart Moscow and Kyiv’s positions remain.
Russia occupies large portions of eastern Ukraine and Crimea, and Kyiv insists no talks are possible until Moscow withdraws from Ukrainian territory it currently holds. Even a cease-fire, it says, will only allow Moscow time to regroup in its faltering military campaign. Ukraine rejected a 36-hour Russian…
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