Ukraine’s foreign minister says he is seeking “common ground” with China’s foreign minister on ending war with Russia
BEIJING — Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he was seeking “common ground” with his Chinese counterpart this week about ending the war with Russia.
Kuleba met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Wednesday in Guangzhou, China’s main commercial and manufacturing hub in southern China, in the first visit by a Ukrainian foreign minister to the country since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine strained ties between the two countries.
“A just peace in Ukraine is in China’s strategic interests and we are convinced that China’s role as a force for world peace is important,” Kuleba said in his opening remarks.
China has close ties with Russia and advocates an end to the war that takes into account the interests of both sides, a position that puts it at odds not only with Ukraine, but also with Western European countries and the United States, which want Russia’s withdrawal as a basis for a solution.
China did not participate in a peace conference held in Switzerland last month without Russia.
Kuleba is expected to lobby Chinese officials to attend another peace conference scheduled before the US presidential election in early November. His visit reflects a calculation that no favorable peace deal for Ukraine is likely without China’s participation.
Chinese officials have maintained the two countries have a friendly and cooperative relationship, and citing growing trade between the two countries, Wang said in his opening remarks that relations between the two countries have continued to develop normally “despite the complex and ever-changing international and regional situation.”
Kuleba arrived in China on Tuesday and is scheduled to depart on Friday. In a video posted to his social media accounts late Tuesday, Kuleba said he would hold extensive negotiations to find common ground in the pursuit of peace in Ukraine.
“We need to move towards a just and stable peace,” he said, according to a translation published by Euromaiden Press, an English-language news site about Ukraine. “China can play an important role in this. Let’s get started.”
Zelensky’s visit was an extraordinary one, coming after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly rebuked China in June, accusing it of backing Russia in blocking Switzerland’s participation in a peace conference. China has denied pressuring other countries.
It was the first time Zelenskiy has backed away from a cautious attempt to wean Beijing from its strong ties with Moscow.
Ahead of the meeting, China separately released a six-point peace plan with Brazil, a move and its timing likely infuriating Ukrainian officials who had been seeking support for their own peace proposal.
“We must avoid a competition of peace plans,” Kuleba said in a social media video this week.
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Associated Press writer Samya Kurrab in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed.
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The date on which Kuleba said they were seeking “common grounds” was corrected on Tuesday.
