Kuleba in China

Kuleba in China: peace negotiations in Ukraine and the role of China

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba meets with Chinese colleague Wang Yi to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine and China's role in the search for sustainable peace

24 July 2024

Il ministro degli Esteri ucraino Dmytro Kuleba (a sinistra) con il collega cinese Wang Yi

2' min read

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, on a mission to China for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion, met today with his Chinese colleague Wang Yi in Guangzhou, an important manufacturing and trade centre in the south of the country, to discuss possible ways to end the war and China's possible role in achieving a sustainable peace. This was reported by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

According to Reuters, quoted by several Ukrainian media, the meeting lasted over three hours.

Kiev's location

During the talks, the Ukrainian minister emphasised Kiev's position on possible negotiations with Moscow. "I expressed Ukraine's readiness to engage in a negotiation process with its Russian counterpart," when Russia "is willing to conduct negotiations in good faith," Kuleba was quoted as saying by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

However, Kuleba added that no such readiness is currently observed on the Russian side.

Moscow's Reply

"You know that the Russian side has never rejected negotiations and has always maintained its openness to the negotiation process" with Ukraine. This is how the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, commented on the issue raised by Kuleba. Peskov spoke to journalists, as reported by Ria Novosti.

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Photogallery18 foto

The Chinese position

For Wang, the large-scale war in Ukraine is a three-year 'crisis', according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. China prefers to refer to the war in Ukraine as a 'crisis'. Wang added that Beijing "has always been firmly committed to promoting a political solution" to the conflict in Ukraine.

'Russia and Ukraine,' reports the Chinese Foreign Ministry, quoted by Euromaidan, 'have signalled their readiness for negotiations, at various levels. Although the conditions and timing are not yet ripe, we support all efforts that contribute to peace and are ready to continue playing a constructive role'.

The Ukrainian minister said he was convinced that 'a just peace in Ukraine is in line with China's strategic interests, and China's role as a global force for peace is important', according to a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry press release. "We must end the war, restore peace and accelerate the recovery of our country," Kuleba said.

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The Ukrainian foreign minister also informed Wang of the results of the Buergenstock conference in Switzerland and explained the rationale for further steps in the implementation of the peace formula proposed by Volodymyr Zelensky as a way to end Russian aggression in a 'just' way. Neither Russia nor China had attended the Buergenstock conference.

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According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Ukraine and China emphasised the need for a long-term vision and planning of relations between the two countries, as well as the opportunity to promote Sino-Ukrainian relations and bilateral cooperation. Although this was Kuleba's first mission to China, the minister had already met Wang last February at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

Kuleba arrived in China yesterday and is scheduled to leave on Friday. In a video posted on his social media accounts, he said he would start in-depth negotiations to seek common ground in the pursuit of peace in Ukraine. "We must move towards a just and stable peace," he said, according to a translation published by Euromaidan Press. "China can play a significant role in this."