Russian President Vladimir Putin told China’s President Xi Jinping in a phone call on Friday that Moscow was willing to hold high-level negotiations with Ukraine, the Chinese government said.
Mr. Xi, in the call, broadly expressed support to Russia by calling for Europe to address “the legitimate security concerns of all countries” — a point emphasised by China in recent days referring to Russia’s concerns over NATO – and did not criticise Russia’s invasion.
The official Xinhua news agency said in a readout of the call that Mr. Putin conveyed that Russia was willing to conduct “high level negotiations with Ukraine”.
Later on Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Mr. Putin is ready to send a delegation of high-ranking officials to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, to hold talks with Ukraine officials. It is reported that Kiev accepted the talks but the venue, according to them, should be Poland.
Whether the conditions for those talks will continue, as Russia’s invasion continued unabated on Friday, remains unclear.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said “always believes that there is a complex historical background and context on the Ukraine issue” and that “the legitimate security concerns of all sides should be respected”.
“In the future, China will continue to make its own efforts to promote a political settlement of the Ukraine issue,” spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, adding that “China’s approach is in sharp contrast to the U.S. approach that aims to create a crisis and benefit from the crisis.” / Argumentum.al
