China has long been trying to mediate in the Ukraine war.
(Photo: AP)
Beijing, Riga Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Xi stressed that China would “make its own efforts to end the war and ceasefire and restore peace as soon as possible,” according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
To this end, the government wants to send a special envoy for Eurasian affairs to Ukraine and other countries to hold talks with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. So far, China has only called on all sides to talk, but has not taken any active steps to mediate.
On Twitter, the Ukrainian President praised the “long and meaningful conversation” with Xi. “I believe that this phone call and the appointment of the Ukrainian ambassador to China will give a strong impetus to the development of our bilateral relations,” Zelensky wrote.
In the West, there are serious doubts about China’s neutral role as a mediator. The Chinese government has never condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Rather, Beijing repeatedly accuses the West of having provoked the conflict and fueled it with arms deliveries. During his state visit to Moscow in late March, Xi called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a “dear friend.” At the time, the two heads of state announced that they would further expand the partnership between the two countries.
China’s head of state has had five personal exchanges with Putin since the beginning of the war, and this is also the first time with Zelenskiy. Kyiv had been expecting this phone call weeks ago, immediately after Xi’s visit to Moscow.
Xi’s call to Zelensky is seen as a concession to the Europeans
During the recent visit to China by French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Xi promised to call Zelenski if “the time and circumstances are right”. The talks between Xi and Zelensky can also be seen as a concession to the Europeans.
>> Read here: Xi and Putin are building the bulwark against the West
The call comes at a sensitive time. Earlier this week, Chinese ambassador to France Lu Shaye questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet states like Ukraine in a television interview. The statements caused indignation across Europe and overshadowed the most recent diplomatic talks, for example between Macron and Xi. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing tried to limit the damage. But doubts about China’s supposedly neutral role continue to grow.
On the anniversary of the start of the war at the end of February, the Chinese government presented a proposal for a “political solution to the Ukraine crisis”, in which, among other things, a ceasefire and peace talks were called for. It remained unclear what role China could or wanted to play in possible peace talks. This could now change with the dispatch of a special envoy.
The previous special envoy for Eurasian affairs is former Chinese ambassador to Russia Li Hui. It is still unclear whether he will also take on the role of mediator agreed in the phone call between Xi and Zelenski.
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China’s Ukraine paper met with skepticism from Western politicians. A ceasefire at this point in time would be tantamount to a “ratification of the Russian conquest,” US National Security Advisor John Kirby emphasized at the time. There are fears that Russia would use the ceasefire to consolidate its positions in Ukraine and gather forces for new attacks on Ukraine. “You can’t negotiate with a gun at your temple,” stressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Because it is also clear that China’s head of state Xi Jinping has no interest in weakening Vladimir Putin. Together, Xi and Putin are striving to break the perceived US hegemony and create a supposedly “multipolar world order.” In Beijing’s Ukraine paper, for example, a reorganization of the European security architecture is indirectly called for, without the protective power of the USA.
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