Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said he is seeking “common ground” in talks this week with his Chinese counterpart on ending his country’s war with Russia.

Mr. Kuleba met on July 24 with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Guangzhou, a major commercial and manufacturing centre in southern China. It is the first visit to the country by a Ukrainian Foreign Minister since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has strained Ukraine’s relations with China.

“I am convinced that a just peace in Ukraine is in China’s strategic interests, and China’s role as a global force for peace is important,” Mr. Kuleba said in opening remarks.

China has close ties with Russia and has pushed for an end to the war that would take into account the interests of both sides. That position has put it at odds not only with Ukraine but also Western European countries and the U.S., which are demanding a Russian withdrawal as the basis for any settlement.

China did not participate in a peace conference in Switzerland last month that did not include Russia.

Mr. Kuleba was expected to lobby Chinese officials to attend another peace conference planned for sometime before the American presidential election in early November. His visit reflects a calculation that any peace deal favorable to Ukraine would likely be a non-starter without China on board.

Chinese officials maintained that the two countries have friendly and cooperative relations. Noting the growth in trade between them, Mr. Wang said in his opening remarks that ties have continued to develop normally “despite complex and ever-changing international and regional situations.”

Mr. Kuleba arrived in China on July 23 and is scheduled to depart on July 26. In a video posted late on JUly 23 on his social media accounts, Mr. Kuleba said he would have extensive negotiations to look for common ground in the pursuit of peace in Ukraine.

“We need to move to a just and stable peace,” he said, according to a translation posted by Euromaiden Press, an English-language news site on Ukraine. “China can play a significant role in this. Let’s go.”

His visit follows a rare public rebuke of China by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in June. Mr. Zelenskyy accused China of helping Russia block countries from participating in the Swiss peace conference. China denied pressuring others.

It was the first time Mr. Zelenskyy had departed from careful attempts to court Beijing away from its strong relationship with Moscow.

China published a separate six-point peace plan with Brazil ahead of the conference The move and the timing likely angered Ukrainian officials who were in the midst of seeking support for their peace proposal.

“We must avoid the competition of peace plans,” Mr. Kuleba said in his social media video this week.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister was in China on July 23 for talks on how officials there might help end the war with Russia, whose ties with Beijing have grown stronger since the conflict began.

China presents itself as a neutral party in the war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.

However, its deepening “no limits” partnership with Russia has led NATO members to brand it a “decisive enabler” of Moscow’s war, which Beijing has never condemned.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba’s visit until on July 26 is his first since the war began in February 2022.

Kyiv said Mr. Kuleba’s visit would focus on “ways to stop Russian aggression” as well as “China’s possible role in achieving a sustainable and just peace”.

Beijing said on July 23 that the talks would focus on “advancing China-Ukraine cooperation and other issues of common interest”.

“On the Ukraine crisis, China always believes that an early ceasefire and a political settlement serves the common interests of all parties,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

“China will continue to stand on the side of peace and dialogue,” she said.

China has sought to paint itself as a mediator in the war, sending envoy Li Hui to Europe on multiple rounds of “shuttle diplomacy”.

President Xi Jinping told Hungary’s Viktor Orban this month that world powers should help Russia and Ukraine restart direct negotiations. Orban’s visit to Beijing was branded as a “peace mission”.

China also released a paper last year calling for a “political settlement” to the conflict. However, it was criticised by Western countries for enabling Russia to retain much of the territory it has seized in Ukraine.

Beijing has rebuffed claims it is supporting Russia’s war effort, insisting last week that its position was “open and above board” and accusing the West of fuelling the conflict through arms shipments to Kyiv.

Beijing, a close political and economic ally of Russia, did not attend a peace summit in Switzerland last month in protest against Moscow not being invited.

‘Extract a price’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called during that summit for Beijing to engage seriously with developing peace proposals.

Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told AFP that Kyiv could likely seek this week to “convince China that it should participate in a second peace summit”.

“Beijing can try to extract a price, even for sending somebody like Special Envoy ambassador Li Hui,” he said.

China has offered a critical lifeline to Russia’s isolated economy since the conflict began.

That economic partnership has come under close scrutiny from the West in recent months, with Washington vowing to go after financial institutions that facilitate Moscow’s war effort.

The United States and Europe have also accused China of selling components and equipment necessary to keep Russia’s military production afloat.

Gabuev suggested that Beijing may this week “try to leverage this Ukrainian interest in a second peace summit… in order to get itself off the hook for deepening sanctions”.

But another analyst said it was possible that Beijing could be keen to play a larger role in mediating a conflict “that threatens to become increasingly costly for Chinese businesses and interests”.

“China is undoubtedly sustaining its overall support for Russia,” Bjorn Alexander Duben, an assistant professor at China’s Jilin University, told AFP.

“But there are signs that Beijing is getting increasingly wary of the diplomatic, political, and economic cost of its ongoing de facto support for Moscow,” he added.