Ukraine
Li Hui, the top Chinese diplomat to visit Ukraine since the Russian invasion, is on a European tour to promote Beijing’s peace plan
Agence France-Presse
Thu 18 May 2023 00:47 BST
Ukraine’s foreign minister has met China’s special envoy in Kiev and insisted the war-torn country would not accept a peace plan based on giving up territory following Russia’s invasion.
In the Ukrainian capital, China’s envoy Li Hui wants to press ahead with negotiations led by Beijing to resolve the conflict. He is the most senior Chinese diplomat to visit Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
China, a close Moscow ally, has not publicly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said peace depended on “respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
In his meeting with Li, Kuleba stressed “that Ukraine will not accept proposals that would mean losing its territories or freezing the conflict,” his ministry said.
He also stressed the importance of China’s mediating role, particularly with regard to nuclear safety and the resumption of grain exports through the Black Sea.
Beijing urges foreign embassies to remove ‘politicized propaganda’
Wednesday’s meeting came as Turkey’s president announced a two-month extension of a United Nations-backed deal that would allow Ukraine to cross the Black Sea with grain shipments that are crucial to ensuring supplies to global grain markets.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan thanked his “valuable friend”, Russian President Vladimir Putin, his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary-General António Guterres for their role in extending the deal.
Erdoğan announced the grain deal a day before it expired, scoring a diplomatic coup ahead of Turkey’s May 28 runoff election where he hopes to extend his two-decade rule.
He said Russia had agreed not to prevent ships from leaving two Ukrainian ports and expressed hope the deal would be “beneficial to all parties”.
Kiev said it was “grateful” to the United Nations and Turkey for their efforts to “strengthen food security”.
UN chief Guterres said: “These agreements are important for global food security – Ukrainian and Russian products feed the world.”
Russia has repeatedly threatened to pull out of the deal, which was due to expire on May 18, claiming there remain obstacles to its own food exports.
She condemned what she called “disparities” in the implementation of the agreement, which “should be corrected as soon as possible”.
Kiev, meanwhile, has accused Russia of blocking ships by refusing To them and conducting lengthy inspections.
“Currently, almost 70 ships are waiting in Turkish territorial waters, 90% of them are ready to deliver our farmers’ products to the world,” said Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.
Li arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday, three weeks after Zelenskyy called Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
He arrived as part of a European tour for two-day talks with authorities to publicize Beijing’s plan to settle the conflict.
Kiev warned on Tuesday that Ukraine does not need “mediation for mediation’s sake”.
“Ending the war with a compromise at Ukraine’s expense will not work,” a senior Ukrainian official who asked to remain anonymous told AFP.
Beijing said the goal of the trip was to “communicate with all parties on the political solution to the Ukraine crisis.”
Xi, who visited Moscow in March and wanted to position China as a neutral mediator, was criticized for refusing to condemn the Kremlin’s attack on its neighbor.
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