Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit China, his first trip to Beijing since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
A representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, confirmed that Kuleba would be in China from Tuesday to Friday. His visit will take place at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, according to Chinese media.
The key subject of discussion will be “the search for ways to deal with Russian aggression and China’s possible role in achieving a stable and just peace,” according to a statement by the Foreign Ministry in Kyiv.
The visit comes shortly after US President Joe Biden, who is leading international efforts to aid Ukraine, announced he would not seek reelection. Kuleba’s trip also comes weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky openly criticised Beijing for allegedly helping Moscow sabotage a peace conference in Switzerland last month.
In March, Former Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, insulted Chinese representative Li Hui after the latter had completed a series of visits to European countries, during which he held meetings with officials from Russia, Belgium, Poland, Ukraine, Germany, and France. At the time, Hui discussed prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis.
Last year, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, also criticised China and India, saying that the intellectual potential of the two countries was weak despite the fact that they were effectively investing in science.
Now, as more signals emerge that US support from President Joe Biden’s administration may soon end, Zelensky has softened his condemnation of China’s support for Russia. However, in June, the president stated that China’s support would “extend the war in Ukraine,” according to CNN.
