Chinese special envoy to visit Ukraine for first time since war began

Beijing is sending a senior diplomat to Ukraine for talks, in the first trip by a Chinese representative since the war began more than a year ago.

Li Hui, the special envoy in charge of Eurasian affairs, would visit Ukraine, Poland, Germany, France and Russia starting on Monday, in order to discuss a political solution to the conflict.

Chinese state and party leader Xi Jinping announced the envoy’s visit during a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky two weeks ago but no date was mentioned at the time.

The visit of a Chinese representative to relevant countries showed China’s commitment to promoting peace and talks, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Beijing had repeatedly underlined its commitment to negotiations since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

However, China was also continuing to back Russian President Vladimir Putin, leading to widespread criticism abroad.

While Xi had spoken with Putin several times and was in Moscow as recently as March, he had only called Zelensky once.(dpa/NAN)