Xi Jinping makes pitch for peace in first talks with Zelensky

Chinese President Xi Jinping has told his Ukrain­ian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that talks are the ‘only way out’ of the war.

A local resident and a rescuer stand on debris of a museum hit by a Russian strike in Kupiansk on Tuesday. Picture: Reuters

Chinese President Xi Jinping has told his Ukrain­ian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that “talks and negotiation” are the “only way out” of the war and he will send a delegation to Kyiv to ­broker a “political settlement”.

During a phone call lasting ­almost an hour – the first time the two had spoken since Russia’s ­invasion in February last year – Mr Xi said: “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.”

The comments came despite Mr Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing a “no-limits friendship” three weeks ­before the outbreak of hostilities and the Chinese leader never having condemned the invasion.

Mr Zelensky said the call had been “long and meaningful”.

“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 said.

In February Beijing unveiled a 12-point paper calling for a “political settlement” to the crisis, but has long been suspected by the West of siding with Moscow.

In a statement issued after Wednesday’s talks, the foreign ministry in Beijing said: “The Chinese side will send a special representative of the Chinese government on Eurasian affairs to visit Ukraine and other countries to conduct in-depth communication with all parties for a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.”

Moscow appeared dismissive, with a foreign ministry spokesman saying: “The Ukrain­ian authorities and their Western minders have already shown their ability to mess up any peace ­initiatives,” while noting “the readiness of the Chinese side to make efforts to establish a negotiation process”.

The call came as the head of Ukrainian military intelligence said Russia’s army had largely abandoned its drive to seize more territory and had switched to ­defensive positions in anticipation of Kyiv’s long-awaited counter-offensive.

Kyrylo Budanov said Mr Putin’s forces were mainly confining offensive operations to trying to capture Bakhmut, the war-ravaged town in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. He also said they were fighting for control of two nearby towns, ­Avdiivka and Marinka. “They want to wipe the settlements off the face of the earth,” he told the RBC-Ukraine website.

Outside the Donbas, Mr ­Budanov said Russia had “completely switched everywhere to positional defence”.

Although he remained tight-lipped on the details of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, Mr Budanov promised it would be a “landmark battle in Ukraine’s modern history” that would result in the retaking of “significant” amounts of occupied territory.

He dismissed suggestions that delays in the delivery of Western weapons could cause it to be postponed. “Of course, we would like to intensify and increase supplies,” he said, “but we will proceed with what we have.” He added: “The fate of Ukraine is in the hands of Ukraine.”

He also alleged that Russia had sent a Putin lookalike to visit the occupied Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Mariupol and Luhansk this month. Although he did not provide evidence, Mr Budanov pointed to the apparently slack security for the trips as an indication that the real Mr Putin had remained in Moscow.

The comments were made as Britain’s Ministry of Defence estimated that Russian casualties had dropped by about 30 per cent this month as Mr Putin’s forces prepare to defend occupied areas of southern and eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military has reported that Russia suffered a daily average of 776 casualties in March compared with 568 so far in April. The decline is also thought to be due to the end of Russia’s winter offensive, which provided only modest gains for large losses.

Many analysts believe Ukraine will try to push Russia back to the coast of the Black Sea, a move that would isolate Mr Putin’s occupying forces in Crimea, which the Kremlin has controlled since 2014. Mr Putin has warned that Russia will defend the Black Sea peninsula with ­nuclear weapons.

THE TIMES, AFP