Zelenskyy seeks meeting with Xi to discuss China's peace plan

Ukraine's President says proposal from Beijing is 'an important signal'

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was planning to meet his Chinese counterpart after Beijing called for urgent peace talks to end the war in Ukraine.

"I am planning to meet President Xi Jinping," he told reporters on Friday as Ukraine marked the first anniversary of Russia's invasion.

"This will be important for world security," he said.

Mr Zelenskyy did not say when or where he was planning to meet Mr Xi but expressed hope that China would support a "just peace" and Ukraine.

China on Friday called for urgent peace talks as it released a 12-point plan to end the war in Ukraine.

"It's an important signal that they are preparing to take part in this theme," Mr Zelenskyy said, suggesting that Beijing did not offer a concrete plan but some "thoughts".

"So far, I see this as a signal — I don't know what will happen later."

He also called on Beijing not to provide Moscow with arms, something China has already said it has no plans to do.

"I very much want to believe that China will not deliver weapons to Russia, and for me this is very important," Mr Zelenskyy said.

"This is point number one."

The Ukrainian leader also said that any plan that did not include a full Russian troop withdrawal would be unacceptable to Kyiv.

China has sought to position itself as a neutral party in the conflict, while maintaining close ties with strategic ally Russia.

The Ukraine war in numbers

The Ukraine war in numbers

Russia said it appreciated Beijing's efforts to settle the conflict but insisted that any solution should recognise Kremlin control over four Ukrainian regions.

China's proposal was met by scepticism from Ukraine's allies.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said Beijing "doesn't have much credibility because they have not been able to condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine".

"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is applauding it, so how could it be any good?" US President Joe Biden told ABC in an interview.

And German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that while "every constructive suggestion that brings us closer on the path to a just peace is highly welcome... whether global power China wants to play such a constructive role is still doubtful".

China announced on Saturday that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko would begin a four-day state visit on Tuesday.

Mr Lukashenko is a staunch ally of Mr Putin and has backed Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Xi and Mr Lukashenko announced an "all-weather" strategic partnership, when they met in the Uzbek city of Samarkand in September.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would visit China in early April, in part to seek Chinese help with ending the war in Ukraine.

"The fact that China engages in peace efforts is a good thing," Mr Macron told reporters at an agricultural fair in Paris on Saturday.

"China must help us put pressure on Russia so that it never uses chemical or nuclear weapons, [an effort] which China has already made, and that it stops its aggression as a precondition for talks," he said.

Updated: February 25, 2023, 2:22 PM