Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said China could help “achieve a just and lasting peace” between Moscow and Kiev, as the diplomat arrived in Beijing on Tuesday.
“One question will be at the centre of attention: Peace in Ukraine,” he said in a video posted on Facebook.
The trip marks Kuleba’s first visit to China since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kiev has repeatedly tried to get Beijing on side, despite the “no limits” partnership declared by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin just days before Russian ground troops crossed the border and Moscow began pounding Ukraine from the air.
Nevertheless, Kiev would like Beijing to play a stronger diplomatic role in ending the war.
The immediate goal of Kuleba’s visit is to find areas of agreement amid competing peace proposals. Kiev is looking to hold another international summit on the war, following a gathering in Switzerland in June.
China presented a 12-point peace plan last year. It does not require a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory – a major difference from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s own proposal to end the war.
Russia controls almost a fifth of Ukraine, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
Kuleba, who is scheduled to be in Beijing for three days, said he was there at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
“We must achieve a just and lasting peace, and China could play an important role in this,” Kuleba said.
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