Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday he had held “a long and meaningful phone call with [Chinese] President Xi Jinping”, the first conversation between the leaders since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.Zelenskyy has long wanted direct talks with Xi to seek China’s help in ending the war, which follows Moscow’s invasion in February 2022.
“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,” Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter.
China has presented a “peace plan” to end the Ukraine war that appears to greatly favour Moscow. Xi discussed it with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow last month.