Ukraine Invites China's Foreign Minister Amid Expanding Diplomatic Efforts

Ukraine has extended an invitation to China's foreign minister to visit, marking a step towards increased dialogue between Kyiv and Beijing. This follows a significant wartime visit by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to China. The discussions aim at a potential future meeting between Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Xi Jinping.

Ukraine has extended an invitation to China's foreign minister, Wu Yi, aiming to escalate dialogue that could potentially culminate in a meeting between the leaders of both countries, the Ukrainian foreign ministry stated on Tuesday. Although China claims neutrality in the Kremlin's 29-month-long invasion of Ukraine, it maintains robust relations with Moscow and abstained from a Kyiv-organized peace summit in June.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba's recent wartime visit to China to meet his counterpart Wang Yi signifies 'very dynamic' diplomatic exchanges, said Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi. Ongoing efforts are directed towards arranging a meeting between Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Xi Jinping, who have only communicated once via telephone in April 2023, Tykhyi added.

'Did Minister Kuleba's visit to China bring closer a potential meeting of the leaders of Ukraine and China? It indisputably did,' Tykhyi confirmed at a briefing in Kyiv. Yet, the timing of such a meeting remains uncertain. Kyiv has proposed a visit for Wang to Ukraine, with Beijing showing interest. Kuleba emphasized to Wang their readiness for talks on the war with Russia, conditional upon Russia's respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

China, being the world's second-largest economy, has extended diplomatic aid to Russia, bolstering its wartime economy.