China says to send delegation to Ukraine for 'political settlement'
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Loading... - Frank Chepkorir
- 27 Apr 2023
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China will send a delegation to Ukraine with the aim of finding a "political settlement" to the conflict, Beijing said on Wednesday.
"The Chinese side will send a special representative of the Chinese government on Eurasian affairs to visit Ukraine and other countries to conduct in-depth communication with all parties for a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," China's foreign ministry said at a press conference.
This comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone on Wednesday, Beijing and Kyiv said, the first call between the two leaders since the start of Russia's invasion.
"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 wrote.
Zelensky's spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov said on Facebook that the two had "an almost one hour-long telephone conversation".
‘Talks and negotiation’
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". Read More…
