In China, Ukraine's top diplomat signals readiness to resume negotiations with Russia

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country would be ready to negotiate directly with Russia, but only when Moscow did so in "good faith".

In a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Wednesday, Kuleba said Kyiv was "ready to engage the Russian side in the negotiation process at a certain stage, when Russia is ready to negotiate in good faith".

But, he added, "no such readiness is currently observed on the Russian side", according to a statement from Ukraine's foreign ministry.

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Kyiv and Moscow briefly engaged in peace talks soon after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, but negotiations broke down over a range of key issues.

Kuleba and Wang met in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, as Kyiv's top diplomat made his first official visit to the country since the war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022.

Wang said China had always been firmly committed to promoting a political solution to the crisis, and was willing to continue to play a constructive role in promoting a ceasefire and the resumption of peace talks, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

"China believes that the resolution of all conflicts must ultimately start with a return to the negotiation table, and the resolution of all disputes must be achieved through political means," Wang said.

"Recently, both Russia and Ukraine have signalled their willingness to negotiate to varying degrees. Although the conditions and timing are not yet ripe, we support all efforts that contribute to peace."

Wang said China would continue to send humanitarian aid to Ukraine and hoped Kyiv would take "effective measures" to protect the safety of Chinese personnel and institutions in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba leads his delegation in more than three hours of talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday. Photo: Weibo alt=Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba leads his delegation in more than three hours of talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday. Photo: Weibo>

The two also agreed to strengthen political trust and activate economic cooperation in various fields.

The talks lasted for more than three hours, according to the BBC.

China has positioned itself as a peacemaker for Ukraine since Russia's invasion of the country, including proposing a 12-point position paper and a six-point consensus with Brazil in May, calling for negotiations that would eventually lead to a ceasefire.

But unlike a West-backed peace formula proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Beijing's proposals do not call for Russia's withdrawal from Ukraine.

Zelensky has long hoped that China could influence Russia as the two countries have strengthened ties during the war. But he seemed to lose patience following the global peace summit in Switzerland last month, accusing China of helping Moscow to undermine the summit.

Beijing skipped that summit, to which Russia had not been invited, and called for a fair summit with equal participation by both sides.

Beijing has long been suspected by the West of providing dual-use goods to Russia, with some companies sanctioned by the United States and the European Union. At a Nato summit earlier this month, member states for the first time condemned China for being a "decisive enabler" of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Former US president Donald Trump's potential return to the White House and his possible withdrawal of funding for Ukraine loomed over the Nato summit, where Zelensky urged his Western partners to continue support for his war-torn country.

In a war that has dragged on for nearly 2½ years, Moscow has been making slow gains while Kyiv has suffered setbacks in eastern Ukraine as aid was from the West.

Wang Yiwei, an international relations professor at Renmin University, said Ukraine was sensing "insecurity" with the growing possibility of Trump's re-election and a surge of right-wing politicians in the European Parliament opposing further support for Ukraine.

He added that China's successful mediation between long-time rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran and a Beijing-brokered deal for a Palestinian "national unity government" also showed China's ability in global peacemaking.

"[Ukraine] hopes to come out from this tense situation at the moment and hopes that China can be more active in promoting peace and talks," he said, adding that China would have more chances to meet Russia later this year to discuss peace, including Chinese President Xi Jinping's possible participation at the Brics summit in Kazan in October.

"Our 12-point proposal and the consensus with Brazil have great influence in the Global South, which is also something that Ukraine highly values."

Alina Hrytsenko, senior consultant at the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv, said Kuleba could have sought China's participation in the next peace summit that could be held later this year and his visit could pave the way for higher-level meetings between Zelensky and Xi.

But she did not yet see any "radical change" in China's position that could help bridge the gap between Ukraine and China's peace initiatives.

"China puts its own national interest first when it comes to the war ... I did not think that after this meeting ... of foreign ministers any substantial agreements could be achieved ... [but] we could potentially see any progress in terms of increasing Chinese involvement into the conflict resolution."

Hrytsenko said she believed there was still "so little room for negotiation" based on the differences in demands from Ukraine and Russia.

Ukraine has long insisted on a complete Russian withdrawal from its occupied territories, including Crimea and parts of the four provinces in the east. Moscow has refused, and has demanded that Kyiv drop its bid to join Nato so that its "legitimate security concerns" could be addressed.

Zelensky also signalled his willingness to negotiate with Russia in an interview with the BBC last week, including direct talks with his counterpart Vladimir Putin, something he had long rejected.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday he would like to see "some concrete actions" from Ukraine, adding that it was unclear "what exactly is behind" Zelensky's words.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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