TIRANA, March 13 – Chinese leader Xi Jinping plans to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time since the start of the Ukraine war, likely after he visits Moscow next week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to people familiar with the matter, reported The Wall Street Journal on Monday.
The meetings with Putin and Zelensky, the latter of which is expected to take place virtually, reflect Beijing’s effort to play a more active role in mediating an end to the war in Ukraine, some of the people said.
Xi is considering visiting other European countries as part of his trip to Russia, though his full itinerary has yet to be confirmed, according to sources quoted by Reuters.
Chinese President Xi Jinping could wade deeper than before into Ukraine diplomacy as soon as next week, staging both his first trip to Russia and his first talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky since Moscow’s invasion.
The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Kremlin said it had nothing to announce yet. Ukraine’s president’s office did not immediately respond.
The sources who told Reuters of the plan for Xi to visit Moscow declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the issue.
“As a rule, announcements of official foreign visits are coordinated synchronously by mutual agreement of the parties,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “When there is such readiness, we will let you know.”
Such eventual events would follow China’s important role in the signed agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran to end their seven-year rift and restore diplomatic ties as part of a China-brokered deal aimed at reducing tensions in the oil-rich region. The agreement, reached on March 10, 2023 following a meeting in Beijing, will lead to the reopening of their respective embassies within two months as well as the activation of security co-operation arrangements, it is said in a joint statement. /Argumentum.al
