Beijing: China will send a special envoy to Ukraine, Russia and other European nations from Monday, Beijing said on Friday, the highest-ranking Chinese diplomat to visit the war-torn country since Moscow’s invasion last year.
From Ukraine to the Middle East, Beijing in recent months has sought to position itself as a mediator with a leading role in solving the world’s crises.
But while China says it is a neutral party on the Ukraine war, it has been criticized for refusing to condemn Moscow for the invasion.
More than a year into the war, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky by phone last month.
Beijing then announced that Li Hui — China’s ambassador to Russia from 2009 to 2019 — would lead a delegation to Ukraine.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular press conference Friday that the aim of Li’s trip to Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia was to “communicate with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.”
Li’s tour showed China’s “commitment to promoting peace and talks,” Wang said. “It fully shows that China firmly stands on the side of peace.
“China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in building more international consensus on the cease-fire, the cessation of war, the opening of peace talks, and the avoidance of escalation of the situation,” he added.
Qin Gang, China’s foreign minister who is currently in Norway, said of Li’s visit: “We all worry about the situation and we all call for peace and a political solution, which China stands for and has been calling for since day one of the outbreak of the conflict.”
But the choice of Li, the special representative of the Chinese government for Eurasian Affairs, has raised eyebrows.
Shortly before leaving Moscow as ambassador, he was awarded the Order of Friendship medal by President Vladimir Putin.
Xi’s phone call with Zelensky, described by the Ukrainian president as “long and meaningful,” follows Beijing’s publication in February of a 12-point position paper on Ukraine, which called for dialogue and respect for all countries’ territorial sovereignty.
The paper was panned by Western countries for its vague wording, though it prompted Zelensky to say he would be open to talks with Xi.
Its 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.
China special envoy to visit Ukraine, Russia
China special envoy to visit Ukraine, Russia
- Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky by phone last month
- Li Hui — China’s ambassador to Russia from 2009 to 2019 — would lead a delegation to Ukraine
US and Mideast countries seek Kyiv’s drone expertise as Russia-Ukraine talks put on ice
KYIV, Ukraine: The United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine's expertise in countering Iran's Shahed drones, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Various countries, including the United States, have approached Ukraine for help in defending against the Iranian drones, Zelenskyy said late Wednesday. He said he has spoken in recent days with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation.
Russia has fired tens of thousands of Shaheds at Ukraine since it invaded its neighbor just over four years ago, launching a swarm of more than 800 drones and decoys in its biggest nighttime barrage. Iran has responded to joint U.S.-Israeli strikes by launching the same type of drones at countries in the Middle East.
Ukrainian assistance in countering Iranian drones will be provided only if it does not weaken Ukraine's own defenses, and if it adds leverage to Kyiv's diplomatic efforts to stop the Russian invasion, according to the Ukrainian leader.
"We help to defend from war those who help us, Ukraine, bring a just end to the war" with Russia, Zelenskyy said. Later Thursday, Zelenskyy said he had received a U.S. request for support to defend against the drones in the Middle East and had given the order for equipment to be provided along with Ukrainian experts without providing further details.
"Ukraine helps partners who help our security and the protection of our people's lives," he added in a social media post.
Trump, in an interview Thursday with Reuters, said, "Certainly I'll take, you know, any assistance from any country."
Ukraine has battle-tested drone defenses
Ukraine has pioneered the development of cut-price drone killers that cost as little as $1,000, rewriting the air defense rule book and making other countries take notice.
European countries got a wake-up call last September on the changed nature of air defense when Poland scrambled multimillion-dollar military assets, including F-35 and F-16 fighter jets and Black Hawk helicopters, in response to airspace violations by cheap drones.
Ukrainian manufacturers have developed low-cost interceptor drones specifically designed to hunt and destroy Shaheds, and its rapidly expanding drone industry is producing excess capacity.
Zelenskyy announced earlier this year that Ukraine would begin exporting the battle-tested systems.
The European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said before chairing a meeting of EU and Gulf foreign ministers via video link Thursday that the talks would look at how Ukraine's experience can help countries counter Iranian drones.
Middle East war delays Russia-Ukraine talks
The Iran war, now in its sixth day, has drawn international attention away from Europe's biggest conflict since World War II, and forced the postponement of a new round of U. S-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine planned for this week, Zelenskyy said.
Western governments and analysts say the Russia-Ukraine war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, while there is no sign that yearlong U.S.-led peace efforts will stop the fighting any time soon.
"Right now, because of the situation around Iran, there are not yet the necessary signals for a trilateral meeting," Zelenskyy said. "But as soon as the security situation and the overall political context allow us to resume that trilateral diplomatic work, it will be done."
Zelenskyy thanked the United States for the return from Russia on Thursday of 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war. Russia's Defense Ministry also said it received the same number of prisoners from Ukraine and thanked the U.S. and United Arab Emirates for mediating.
Prisoner swaps have been one of the few tangible results of the talks. Vladimir Medinsky, a Russian negotiator, said on social media that a total of 500 prisoners from each side would be exchanged between Thursday and Friday.
Oleksandr Merezhko, the head of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to drag out the negotiations so that he can press on with Russia's invasion while escaping further U.S. sanctions.
He urged the U.S. administration to look at the Russia-Ukraine war and the war in the Middle East as linked.
"In reality, Russia and Iran are close allies that act in concert — Iran supplies weapons and Russia helps Iran develop its defense industry. These are interconnected conflicts," Merezhko told The Associated Press.
Ukraine's army has recently pushed back Russian forces at some points along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (750-mile) front line, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
Localized Ukrainian counterattacks liberated more territory than Ukrainian forces lost in the last two weeks of February, the Washington-based think tank said this week, estimating the recovered land at about 257 square kilometers (100 square miles) since Jan. 1.
