Volkswacht Bodensee - Kyiv's top diplomat urges 'direct' Ukraine peace talks on China trip

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.

But its deepening "no limits" partnership with Moscow has led NATO members to brand it a "decisive enabler" of the war that Beijing has never condemned.

"It is very important that Kyiv and Beijing engage in direct dialogue and an exchange of positions," Dmytro Kuleba said in a video posted on social media after arriving in Beijing.

He said he would hold "extensive, detailed, substantive talks" with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on achieving a "just peace".

Kuleba said his visit until Friday is the first of any senior Ukrainian official since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Beijing said Tuesday the talks would focus on bilateral ties 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.

"We must avoid competition between peace plans," Kuleba said in his message Tuesday, adding that China "should look at relations with our country through the prism of its strategic relations with Europe".

Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told AFP that Kyiv was likely to 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.

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C.Stoecklin--VB