Phone call, envoy’s trip to advance peace hopes

China played key role by remaining open to both Ukraine and Russia, experts say

The phone call between the heads of states of China and Ukraine and Beijing’s plan to send a special envoy to countries, including Ukraine, for mediation quickly became the central topic on Wednesday at a special briefing for reporters at the Foreign Ministry in Beijing.

In the afternoon, President Xi Jinping had a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and reaffirmed China’s commitment to a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis while unveiling fresh proposals for facilitating peace talks.

The conversation took place as the Ukraine crisis continues amid countries’ call for calm and reason to prevail, one of the core ideas of the China-led Global Security Initiative, observers said.

China has been promoting peace talks “in a constructive, impartial manner as a responsible major country and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council”, said Yu Jun, deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of European-Central Asian Affairs.

Beijing “will continue facilitating peace talks and play its due role”, he told the briefing.

China-Ukraine ties have grown steadily, and since 2019 China has been Ukraine’s largest trade partner for four consecutive years, he noted. Wednesday’s president-to-president phone conversation shows the great importance Beijing attaches to bilateral ties and its “willingness to move the ties forward in various fields”, Yu said.

Beijing’s special envoy for the mediation process, which will take place in the near future, is Li Hui, the Chinese government’s special representative on Eurasian affairs, Yu confirmed, adding that further information about the trip will be later released.

To illustrate China’s consistency on peacemaking, Yu said the crisis was high on the agenda when Xi visited Russia last month and when he hosted visiting leaders recently, including from France, Brazil and the European Union.

In February, China issued its position paper regarding the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

Beijing has paid great attention to the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, put forward proposals, and provided assistance to the best of its capacity, Yu said.

“China has maintained contact with parties, including Ukraine, since the outbreak of the crisis,” Yu said, adding that all parties are expected to reflect on the situation and seek a new way for lasting peace in Europe.

Da Wei, professor and director of the Center for International

Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, said that “China is playing an irreplaceable role some nations have failed to achieve” as it is rare to see leaders from some Western countries have direct, candid conversations with the leaders of both Russia and Ukraine.

“The United States and some other Western countries have perceived the crisis as a confrontation between two blocs, and they labeled China as part of one of the blocs”, which “added difficulty to China’s communication” with parties concerned, he said.

Beijing believes that the crisis is highly complicated and it refuses to take sides.

“Even so, China has been sparing no effort in advancing communication,” he said.

Sun Zhuangzhi, director of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the planned trip underlines “Beijing’s valuing political settlement of the crisis” and “the necessity and importance of communication”. It also echoes the concerns of the international community and rising calls for a cease-fire.

“Complex issues can only be settled when various parties have fully expressed their opinions and reached a consensus,” he said.

Li Yongquan, head of the China Society for Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies, said that “any moment is the best moment for facilitating peace talks”.

From the very beginning of the crisis, China has not taken sides and is a partner to both nations, and “both countries should not have reached the current situation”, Li said.

“As the crisis lingers, there will be more casualties, economic recession and there will be greater threats to security in Europe and the Eurasian region,” he added.

Complex issues can only be settled when various parties have fully expressed their opinions and reached a consensus.”

Sun Zhuangzhi, director of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences