Xi’s phone call with Ukraine’s Zelensky, push for political settlement of crisis lauded globally

Elderly women fix a plastic sheet over a broken window after shelling near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on February 28. (PHOTO / AFP)

As parties including Kyiv, Moscow, Washington and Brussels responded positively to the China-Ukraine presidents’ phone talk held on April 26, observers said it is time for all stakeholders in the Ukraine crisis to work toward peace in the spirit of having no time to lose.

Beijing’s latest proposal for mediating the conflict in a push for political settlement deserves more coordination from the rest of the international community, not further attempts to escalate tension or to smear or exaggerate China’s peacemaker role, they said.

During his phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, President Xi Jinping underlined China’s consistent commitment and fresh plans for facilitating peace talks to help bring a resolution to the conflict.

Beijing confirmed that Li Hui, the Chinese government’s special representative on Eurasian affairs, will head to countries including Ukraine for mediation in the near future.

In a tweet and a statement on April 26, Zelensky said he had “a long and meaningful phone call” with Xi, and “particular attention was paid to the ways of possible cooperation to establish a just and sustainable peace for Ukraine”.

After the phone talk, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the same day that Moscow has taken notice of “the readiness of the Chinese side to make efforts to establish the negotiation process”.

On April 27, the visiting foreign ministers of the five Central Asian countries spoke highly of the constructive Xi-Zelensky conversation, calling it helpful for an early cease-fire and resumption of peace talks.

“All the parties support China’s initiative for promoting peace and talks, and they believe that the spirit of international law should be followed and conflicts should be resolved through diplomatic means,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said following the fourth China-Central Asia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Xi’an, Shaanxi province.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang said at the event that Beijing is willing to work with various parties, including Central Asian countries, to push the global community to do its utmost to achieve broad consensus in settling the Ukraine crisis.

The two presidents’ phone talk is “an important step taken by China with an eye to advancing political settlement of the Ukraine crisis”, he said.

The international community has also responded positively to the Xi-Zelensky phone call.

South Africa’s ambassador to China, Siyabonga Cwele, praised China’s efforts to mediate the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to promote a political settlement, saying Beijing, as a peacemaker, is supported by developing countries and peace-loving people.

“We commend China, in particular, President Xi Jinping’s efforts to stop the conflict in Europe,” Cwele told Chinese media on April 27, one day after Xi spoke with Zelensky.

In February, China issued a position paper on political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. Xi also emphasized the need for peace talks during meetings with foreign leaders who visited China in recent months, including French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Cwele said the conflict cannot be ended unless parties concerned sit around the table to talk and listen to each other’s concerns.

“In situations like that, you need someone who has got no personal interests to help discuss and come together to find a solution. And that’s why the efforts by his excellency, President Xi Jinping, are highly welcomed,” said the ambassador.

Josep Borrell, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, told journalists on April 26 in Bogota, Colombia, where he was working to strengthen EU relations with Latin America and the Caribbean, that “it is very important that China talks with Ukraine. I want to remind you that we all want peace”.

Sun Zhuangzhi, director of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, warned of the danger arising from the fact that over a year has passed since the major escalation of the Ukraine crisis.

“There is imminent danger and risks of the crisis becoming a perpetual and long-term issue, and its spillover effects are accumulating and aggravating,” Sun said.

Su Xiaohui, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, said President Xi’s phone talk with Zelensky will help more countries, especially European nations, better understand Beijing’s intentions and what kind of role China has played.

“Since the outbreak of the crisis, Washington has been attempting to alienate China and European countries by hyping the possibility of China providing arms to Russia and by depicting China as standing by Russia over the matter,” she said.

Through this phone talk, the world will see more clearly who is the real champion and contributor to global peace as well as who is meddling in the situation, she added.

Contact the reporters at zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn