China’s Xi Jinping and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky hold first talks since Russia’s invasion

China’s leader has held the first talks with Ukraine’s president since Russia’s war began – but mystery surrounds what Beijing's aim is.

China's President Xi Jinping attends a signing ceremony with his Russian counterpart following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2023. (Photo by Mikhail TERESHCHENKO / SPUTNIK / AFP)

Chinese president Xi Jinping has had his first direct contact with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky since Russia’s invasion begin last year.

The pair held a phone call on Wednesday.

It’s a notable move for the Chinese leader who has been seen as close to Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin.

It remains a mystery if the call is a sign that Mr Xi is moving further away from Moscow in order to find peace or simply appearing to do so.

Beijing has said it is neutral when it comes to the conflict, but western governments are sceptical given its relationship to Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and China's President Xi Jinping spoke on Wednesday. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV and Vladimir ASTAPKOVICH / various sources / AFP)

The contact comes days after Beijing walked back comments from China’s ambassador to Paris who appeared to call into question the sovereignty of former Soviet states, such as Ukraine, which could have suggested Russia’s military action could be justified.

The US, while saying dialogue between Beijing and Kyiv was “a good thing”, has said it remains to be seen if it leads to any “meaningful peace movement”.

Moscow has said it “noted” the call but added the West and Mr Zelensky were the many barriers to the conflict ending.

“I had a long and meaningful phone call with President Xi Jinping,” Mr Zelensky said on Twitter.

“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,” he wrote.

Mr Zelensky’s spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov said on Facebook that the two had “an almost one hour-long telephone conversation”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping are close. (Photo by Pavel Byrkin / SPUTNIK / AFP)

Beijing mouthpiece the Global Times stated that Mr Xi told his Ukrainian counterpart that dialogue and negotiations were the only solution to the conflict and that no one wins a nuclear war.

He made similar comments to Putin the last time the pair met.

Mr Xi added that China and Ukraine now had a “strategic partnership” and thanked Mr Zelensky for his help in evacuating Chinese citizens from the country when the conflict began.

“On the issue of the Ukraine crisis, China has always stood on the side of peace and its core position is to promote peace talks,” Chinese broadcaster CCTV reported Mr Xi as saying.

Mr Xi added that China “will neither watch the fire from the other side, nor add fuel to the fire, let alone take advantage of the crisis to profit”.

“When dealing with the nuclear issue, all parties concerned should remain calm and restrained, truly focus on the future and destiny of themselves and all mankind, and jointly manage and control the crisis,” Mr Xi said.

China will send a delegation to Ukraine with the aim of finding a “political settlement” to the conflict.

In February, Beijing unveiled a 12-point paper calling for a “political settlement” to the crisis in Ukraine.

The paper’s first point was that “the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively upheld”.

But China has consistently refused to expand upon how that relates to the specifics of the Ukraine war, which was triggered when Moscow’s forces invaded their neighbour.

China has said it wants to find peace. (Photo by SERGEY BOBOK / AFP)

US and Russia react

Russia’s initial reaction to the Chinese-Ukrainian dialogue was to hit out at Kyiv.

The country’s foreign ministry noted “the readiness of the Chinese side to make efforts to establish a negotiation process”.

But added “The Ukrainian authorities and their Western minders have already shown their ability to mess up any peace initiatives”.

The White House lauded the contact between the two leaders

“We welcome the news that there was a phone call between President Xi and President Zelensky. We think that’s a good thing,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

“Now, whether that’s going to lead to some sort of meaningful peace movement or plan or proposal, I just don’t think we know that right now.

“We have long said we want this war to end,” he said, adding that it could end “immediately” if Russia would pull its troops out of Ukraine.

“If there’s going to be a negotiated peace, it’s got to (be) when President Zelensky is ready for it … where he can do it from a position of strength.

“We certainly would welcome any effort to arrive at a just peace, as long as that peace could be just, could be sustainable, and could be credible,” Mr Kirby said.

Lu Shaye told a French TV channel that the former Soviet countries “do not have effective status in international law”.

Uproar at ambassador’s comments

The call occurred just days after China’s ambassador to France caused uproar when he said that countries that were once part of Soviet Union “don’t have effective status under international law because there is not an international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations”.

The ambassador’s comments cast doubt not just on Ukraine’s status but all former Soviet republics which emerged as independent nations after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, including members of the European Union such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on Twitter that “if anyone is still wondering why the Baltic States don’t trust China to ‘broker peace in Ukraine,’ here’s a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries’ borders have no legal basis”.

A day later, Beijing looked to distance itself from Mr Lu’s comments, an ambassador known for outbursts. It said his comments were “personal”.

“China respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries and upholds the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters on Monday.

“After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with relevant countries.”

She accused “some media” of misinterpreting China’s position on Ukraine and “sowing discord in relations between China and relevant countries”.