Russia welcomes China's readiness to settle Ukraine conflict
Russia on Wednesday hailed China's readiness to participate in the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine after the first telephone conversation between the leaders of China, Xi Jinping, and Ukraine, Volodymir Zelenski.
"We welcome the readiness of the Chinese side to make efforts to push forward the negotiation process," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
According to Zakharova, Russia sees many "coincidences" between the Russian approach and the Chinese peace proposal, published on 24 February on the occasion of the first anniversary of Russia's military intervention in Ukraine.
At the same time, she said that "the problem does not lie in the lack of good plans".
"So far the regime in Kiev has shown its rejection of any sensible initiative aimed at a political and diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis and has made its eventual consent to negotiations conditional on ultimatums with unrealistic demands," she said.
According to Moscow, the Ukrainian authorities and their "sponsors" in the West have already proven their ability to "bog down" peace initiatives.
Zakharova insisted that Zelenski has forbidden "by law" to start negotiations with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
"In this way, any calls for peace can hardly be properly received by the puppets (in Kiev) ruled by Washington," she said.
Xi told Zelenski that China will send a special government representative for Eurasian affairs to visit Ukraine and other countries in order to "conduct in-depth communication with all sides on a political solution to the crisis".
The Chinese leader also told Zelenski that China, as a "permanent member of the UN Security Council", will not "observe the conflict from afar in the hope of gaining benefits" or "add fuel to the fire", and reiterated that "dialogue and negotiation" are "the only way out".
Zelenski also highlighted the "long and meaningful" conversation he had with his Chinese counterpart, which, according to Ukrainian media, lasted more than an hour.
In its peace plan, China defends Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, the cessation of hostilities and the resumption of peace negotiations on the one hand, and on the other it advocates taking into account Russia's security concerns in the face of NATO's advance.
It also calls for the lifting of Western sanctions against Russia due to the so-called 'special military operation'.
I had a long and meaningful phone call with ?? President Xi Jinping. 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.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 26, 2023
Volodymir Zelenski appointed former Minister of Strategic Industries Pavlo Rabikin as Ukraine's new ambassador to Beijing on Wednesday, minutes after the Ukrainian head of state held his first telephone conversation with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, since the start of the war.
According to the Ukrainian president's office, Zelenski signed a decree appointing Rabikin "ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the People's Republic of China".
Shortly before the appointment of Rabikin, who until last March was in charge of the Ukrainian Ministry for Strategic Industries, Zelenski had said of the telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping that it was "a boost" to the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
