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A long-awaited call: Chinese President Xi Jinping called his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, on the afternoon of April 26. This is the first contact between the two heads of state since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than a year ago.
With Stéphane Lagarde, correspondent in Beijing
In China, the Xinhua news agency’s dispatch summarizing the phone call between Xi Jinping and Volodymyr Zelensky was read for more than three minutes by the host of the evening news on central television.
The emphasis was placed on reaffirming the opposition to the use of nuclear weapons and the search for peace through dialogue and consultation, principles already mentioned in the Chinese position for peace in Ukraine.
Visit of a Chinese delegation
“China will send its special representative for Eurasian affairs to Ukraine and other countries for in-depth communication with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,” the Chinese president said.
This representative, Li Hui, was the Chinese ambassador to Russia between 2009 and 2019, so he was in office at the start of the war in Donbas. The authorities have not communicated the schedule of the Chinese delegation’s visit to Ukraine.
Beijing is open to Kiev while not forgetting the Russian ally: “China is committed to promoting peace talks in an impartial manner,” recalled the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding that “China will insist on promoting talks to end the war and obtain a ceasefire as soon as possible to restore peace”.
“Way of Wisdom”
In China, the official press praises this position of neutral and fair mediator. “China did not fan the flames of the conflict, it did not provide weapons to either side, so China has the opportunity to talk to both Russia and Ukraine,” said researcher Zhang Hong in the Huanqiu Shibao.
After the reconciliation of the Iranian and Saudi brothers in the Middle East, China intends to use its influence on kyiv and Moscow. An appeasement seems highly hypothetical at the moment, but if Beijing even wins a ceasefire, it would show that the paths to peace lie through Beijing, says one observer.
He Global Times evokes for his part the “path of wisdom”: “Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, American and Western public opinion has thrown a lot of mud on China […] China is not part of the crisis, but it intends to demonstrate its responsibility as a great country,” writes the editorialist of the nationalist daily.
According to Antoine Bondaz, a researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research and a specialist in China, Xi Jinping agreed to call Volodimir Zelensky because “he saw that there was more pressure from the European side and that transatlantic cooperation was being strengthened.”
“Criticism of the United States and Western countries”
However, Bondaz stresses, “the Chinese position must be read in light of the facts: it is above all a criticism of the United States and Western countries. It presents the United States and European countries as adding fuel to the fire by supplying weapons It is the United States that is presented as a factor of instability, because it rejects peace talks. So we have a China that tries to present itself as a responsible power in the discourse, especially to non-Western countries.”
“But in reality,” the analyst continues, “the Chinese position is not very ambiguous. There is explicit support from Russia, be it diplomatic, political or economic, although, it must be emphasized, because this is very important, there is no military support from China to Russia.
Following the call, Volodimir Zelensky appointed an ambassador to China, a positive development for Antoine Bondaz “for one simple reason: China is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and it is essential that Ukraine and China be able to exchange.”
