Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba paid an official visit to China from July 23 to 25, 2024. This was the first visit by a Ukrainian high-ranking official to the country since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The last time a Ukrainian Foreign Minister (Pavlo Klimkin at the time) visited the PRC was eight years ago.
“Extensive, detailed, and substantive negotiations with my Chinese counterpart Wang Yi lie ahead, focusing on pathways to a just peace. We must avoid competition between peace plans. It is crucial that Kyiv and Beijing engage in direct dialogue and exchange positions,” Kuleba said before the talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Guangzhou.
The main topics of the meeting were ending Russian aggression against Ukraine and China’s potential role in achieving a just peace. Parties also discussed the outcomes of the Peace Summit in Switzerland and Kyiv’s further plans for implementing the Peace Formula. The negotiations lasted over three hours, Reuters reported.
Ukraine is ready for negotiations when Russia can engage in them with integrity, the Ukrainian minister emphasized. “I am convinced that a just peace in Ukraine is in China’s strategic interests, and China’s role as a global force for peace is important,” Kuleba said.
Russian aggression hinders not only Ukraine’s development, but also international stability, neighborly relations, and the development of trade between China and Europe, the minister stressed.
Kuleba reminded China’s Minister Wang Yi that Ukraine recently began negotiations for EU membership and that this decision is irreversible. He proposed that China conduct negotiations with Ukraine as a future EU member. “I propose to discuss our bilateral relations today, in particular through the prism of Ukraine’s future membership in the EU and China’s relations with Europe,” Kuleba said.
There is a clear signal that China supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated after hearing Kuleba’s report on the visit. “It was also confirmed what Chinese leader Xi Jinping told me — that China will not supply weapons to Russia,” Zelenskyy said.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized that resolving the “conflict in Ukraine” should happen at the negotiation table. “Minister Wang Yi stated that in China’s view, all conflicts should be resolved through negotiations, as settling all disputes and disagreements must always be achieved through political channels,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.
The Chinese minister noted that the “Ukrainian crisis” (as China refers to Russia’s war against Ukraine – ed.) has been ongoing for its third year. “The conflict continues with risks of escalation and spread. China remains firmly committed to a political resolution. The four principles laid out by President Xi Jinping form the foundation of China’s approach to resolving the crisis. Based on this, China and Brazil jointly outlined six shared understandings for the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis,” Mao Ning said.
“China has authored not one but two ‘peace plans.’ Initially, on the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, Beijing proposed a 12-point ‘plan,’ more of a set of principles. In May this year, together with Brazil, it released another ‘peace plan’ (communiqué) with six points. Notably, it no longer includes a point about respecting the territorial integrity of ‘all countries.’ Previously, a key aspect of China’s position was ‘respect for the territorial integrity of all countries,’ although Ukraine was not specifically mentioned,” Radio Liberty writes.
Overall, China insists on an immediate ceasefire and the holding of an international peace conference with the participation of Ukraine and Russia. “In Kyiv, there are fears that such an approach could freeze the conflict without addressing the withdrawal of Russian occupation forces,” the text states.
Out of the four meetings on the Peace Formula held in 2023-2024 leading up to the Peace Summit, China participated in only one. In his meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Kuleba sent a signal to Beijing that Ukraine would like to see China at the second Peace Summit.
Photos: Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry
