Ukraine requires China to play an important role in achieving a ceasefire

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba called on his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, for the Asian country to play an important role in achieving a ceasefire with Russia and said that Ukraine hopes to achieve peace and become “the gateway to Europe.”

Ministers held a telephone conversation on Monday night collected by Chinese state media on Tuesday and according to which Wang told Kuleba that China expects negotiations to continue until a ceasefire agreement is reached.

The dialogue between the two took place just three days after China and the European Union (EU) held a telematic summit in which Brussels asked Beijing to abandon its “equidistance” to the war in Ukraine and use its influence over Russia to stop aggression. “All China wants is peace in Ukraine,” Kuleba assured the head of diplomacy of the Asian giant, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Since the beginning of the conflict, China has maintained an ambiguous position in which it has called for respect for the territorial integrity of all countries and in which it has avoided using the word “invasion” to refer to the Russian offensive, while reiterating its opposition to sanctions against Moscow.

According to Xinhua, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister informed Wang of the situation, said that his country wants to maintain communication with China and hopes that he will continue to play an important role in achieving a ceasefire.

China is “a great country that plays a key and active role in safeguarding peace,” said Kuleba, who also thanked the humanitarian aid sent by Beijing and insisted that Kiev wants to find a lasting solution through dialogue with Russia and “is ready to become the gateway to Europe.”

Wang, meanwhile, insisted on the Chinese stance of promoting dialogue and peace talks: “China has no geopolitical interests in the Ukrainian crisis nor will it watch from a distance without doing anything, but neither will it add gasoline to the stake. All we want is peace,” he said.

He also called on his counterpart to maintain the focus of dialogue until a ceasefire and eventually peace are achieved, “no matter how difficult the negotiations and differences exist”.

According to the Chinese minister, the conflict will eventually end and the important thing will be to preserve sustainable security in Europe, which will require “a balanced, effective and sustainable European security structure” built through “equitable dialogue”.

China, he said, is ready to continue to play a constructive role “in its own way”, from its “objective and impartial” stance.

Wang further appreciated the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities in the evacuation of Chinese citizens and trusted that effective measures would continue to be taken to ensure the safety of its nationals remaining in the country.

Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in China to participate in a special meeting on Afghanistan, but on the margins he met with Wang and both made it clear that neither war nor sanctions will change the “strategic partnership” between their countries.

(With information from EFE)

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