During a visit to China, the foreign minister of Ukraine signaled the country’s intent to pursue dialogue and negotiations with Russia, which it has been at war with for two and a half years.
At a regular briefing Wednesday afternoon, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning quoted Ukrainian Minister Dmytro Kuleba as having expressed this position while meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister and Chinese Community Party Central Committee member Wang Yi during a visit to Guangzhou in southern China.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Kuleba as saying that Ukraine was “willing and ready to have dialogue and negotiation with Russia,” while adding that “negotiations should be rational, substantive and aimed at achieving just and lasting peace.”
In response, Wang was quoted as saying that “both Ukraine and Russia have expressed to varying degrees the willingness to negotiate.”
“Although the conditions and timing are not yet ripe, we support all efforts conducive to peace and will continue to play a constructive role to enable a ceasefire and resume the peace talk,” he was further quoted as saying.
The remarks are significant in having come during the Ukrainian foreign minister’s visit to China, a country that has aligned itself with Russia to date. Since the start of Russia’s war with Ukraine, China has stepped up its economic interchange with Russia, while extending an invitation last May to Russian President Vladimir Putin for a visit in which the two sides reinforced their strategic partnership.
Kuleba also commented Wednesday on the “six common understandings” that China and fellow BRICS member Brazil named last May as guidelines for a political resolution to the war. The Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted him as saying that Ukraine “attaches importance to China’s views, and has looked closely at the six common understandings issued by China and Brazil on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”
The “six common understandings” in question include content concerning efforts to prevent the conflict from expanding externally or intensifying and to refrain from mutual provocations; the convening of an international peace conference that both Russia and Ukrainian acknowledge and participate in on equal terms; and support for increased humanitarian aid, protections for civilians, and exchanges of prisoners of war.
Observers are watching to see whether Beijing takes on an active mediating role.
Remarking Wednesday on Zelenskyy’s peace summit invitation plans, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stressed that “no one has any faith in him” and that “everyone understands perfectly well that this is a man who can twist anything, who can lie,” according to Russian state news agency TASS.
Not certain how meaningful this is, but, it’s worth sharing!