Photo: VCG

China's special envoy for Eurasian affairs Li Hui visited Ukraine from Tuesday to Wednesday and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and during Li's visit, the two sides exchanged views on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis and China-Ukraine relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. 

Ukraine is the first stop of Li's visit to promote the political solution to the Ukraine crisis starting on May 15 and he is also scheduled to visit Poland, France, Germany and Russia as well. 

China's Foreign Ministry said in the release on Thursday that aside from Ukrainian President Zelensky, Li also met respectively with the head of the Ukrainian President's Office Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and heads of relevant departments such as the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Defense. 

The two sides agreed that the phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Zelensky not long ago pointed out the direction for the development of China-Ukraine relations. The two countries should work together to continue the tradition of mutual respect and sincerity between the two sides, and continue to move forward the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, according to the release.  

During the meetings, Li expounded China's position on the political solution to the Ukrainian crisis, saying that President Xi has put forward four principles, called for joint efforts in four areas and shared three observations on Ukraine, which outline China's fundamental approach to the issue. On this basis, China released its Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis, which reflects the above core ideas of China's stance and takes into account the legitimate concerns of all parties, and has thus received extensive understanding and recognition from the international community. 

There is no panacea to resolve the crisis, said Li, noting that all parties need to accumulate mutual trust and create conditions for ending the war and peace talks. 

On the basis of the document of China's position on the political solution to the Ukrainian crisis", China is willing to promote the international community to form the greatest common denominator for resolving the Ukraine crisis, and make its own efforts to stop the war, promote ceasefire and restore peace as soon as possible, said Li. 

China has been playing a constructive role in easing the humanitarian situation in Ukraine in its own way, and will continue to provide Ukraine with assistance within its capacity, Li said.

The Ukrainian side expressed its pleasure to receive Special Representative Li shortly after the two heads of state had a phone call. Ukraine attaches great importance to China's important role in international affairs as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. It welcomes China to play an active role in ending the war and restoring peace, according to the release.

The Ukrainian side also noted that it always adheres to the one-China principle and is willing to work together with China to promote Ukraine-China relations for new and greater development.

During a phone conversation on April 26, President Xi told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that China will send a special representative for Eurasian affairs to visit Ukraine and other countries to push for a political settlement to the crisis.

Li is a veteran diplomat and has been China's special envoy for Eurasian Affairs since 2019. He was previously Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan from 1997 to 1999, and from 2009 to 2019 he served as China's ambassador to Russia, according to publicly available information. 

Analysts said that Li's visit reflects China's commitment to promoting peace talks, showing China's objective and fair stance as a responsible power.

Global Times