Top Chinese envoy visits Ukraine and Russia on ‘peaceful’ mission

BEIJING, May 15 (Reuters) – China’s top envoy will begin a visit to Ukraine, Russia and other European cities on Monday in what Beijing says is aimed at discussing a “political solution” to the crisis in Ukraine.

Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, will also visit Poland, France and Germany during a multi-day trip, the Foreign Ministry announced on Friday, without providing a detailed timetable.

“This visit … proves China’s efforts to promote peace talks and fully demonstrates China’s firm commitment to peace,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a daily news briefing.

His visit, the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, could coincide with the start of Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive to retake territory seized by Russia.

Ukraine will be Li’s first stop on the trip, according to two people familiar with the matter.

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the order of countries Li will visit.

Weeks earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in late April, the first talks between the two leaders since the war began.

Zelensky called the call “long and meaningful” on Twitter, while Xi said China would focus on promoting peace, although Beijing’s proposal to end the conflict has faced some skepticism in the West given Beijing’s relationship with Russia .

However, several European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, have urged Xi to meet with Zelens during a series of visits to the Chinese capital starting in March. base and take a more active role in limiting Moscow’s actions.

Since February, Beijing has pushed hard for a 12-point proposal for a political solution to the Ukraine crisis.

But the plan, launched on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, is largely a reaffirmation of China’s previous lines in the war. It urged both sides to agree to a gradual de-escalation and warned against the use of nuclear weapons.

Kiev has ruled out the idea of ​​making any territorial concessions to Russia, saying it wants to reclaim every inch of land. Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and since last year has claimed four other Ukrainian regions that Moscow now claims as Russian land.

Throughout the war, China has refrained from condemning its strategic ally Moscow or calling its actions an “invasion”, leading European countries and the United States to criticize China’s credibility as a potential mediator in the conflict.

Given Western unease over Xi Jinping’s March meeting with his “good friend” Russian President Vladimir Putin and the two countries’ commitment to an “unrestricted” partnership less than three weeks before the invasion , whatever information Li publishes will be scrutinized in what Moscow calls a “special military operation.”

Reporting by Laurie Chen; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore

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