New Delhi: In its first response to phone call between Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Moscow on Wednesday said that Russian and Chinese visions for a path to peace were “broadly in tune” and that Ukraine’s “unrealistic” demands were standing in the way of peace negotiations.
Praising Beijing for its efforts to help restart meaningful negotiations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Russian and Chinese visions for a path to peace were “broadly in tune” with one another and that “the problem lies not with the lack of good plans.”
Xi spoke with Zelensky over phone on Wednesday, which was the first call between the two leaders since the start of Russia’s invasion in Kyiv.
“I had a long and meaningful phone call with President Xi Jinping,” Zelensky said on Twitter.
“I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations,” he added.
Xi Jinping and Volodymyr Zelensky had “an almost one hour-long telephone conversation,” said Zelensky’s spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov on Facebook.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that during the call Xi told Zelensky “talks and negotiation” were the “only way out” of the war.
“On the issue of the Ukraine crisis, China has always stood on the side of peace and its core position is to promote peace talks,” CCTV reported Xi as saying.
According to a readout of the call, reported by CCTV, Xi said China “will neither watch the fire from the other side, nor add fuel to the fire, let alone take advantage of the crisis to profit”.
Russia blames Kyiv for standoff
Meanwhile, Russian spokesperson Zakharova blamed Kyiv for the eventual breakdown of negotiations last spring when Russian and Ukrainian teams held several rounds of meetings.
Kiev has repeatedly said that negotiations can resume only after Russia surrenders its recently incorporated territories. Moscow has called such demands unacceptable.
Crimea voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia in the wake of the 2014 coup in Kiev. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, did the same after holding referendums on the matter in September.
In October, Zelensky signed a decree that declared the “impossibility” of conducting negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Beijing, which unveiled a 12-point roadmap for peace in Ukraine in February, has maintained that the conflict can only end through dialogue. China, unlike many Western countries, has also refused to condemn Russia for its actions.
China named diplomat Li Hui its special envoy to Ukraine and “other countries” on Wednesday. Xi said that the envoy would be tasked with conducting “in-depth communication with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”
Li was China’s ambassador to Moscow from 2009 to 2019.
Zelensky, meanwhile, has appointed former strategic industries minister Pavel Ryabkin as the country’s new ambassador to China.
With inputs from agencies
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from Russian-Chinese visions for peace 'broadly in tune', Moscow reacts to Xi-Zelensky call
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