The Chinese envoy in Kiev: “Political solution”. Ukraine: “Respect our integrity”

A mission to find “a political solution” to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Chinese special envoy Li Hui arrived in Kiev yesterday with this objective, as part of a journey that will also take him to Moscow and various other European capitals, including Warsaw, Paris and Berlin. Li Hui’s visit is the visit of the highest-ranking Chinese official since the war began last year. And it arrives in the same hours in which US President Joe Biden also claims he does not rule out that he, “sooner or later”, will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba reminded the Chinese leader how important Kiev considers China’s “participation” in peace efforts and stressed the need to “respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity”. Li Hui, until 2019 ambassador to Russia, is the Chinese government’s special representative for Euro-Asian affairs, and was appointed last month by President Xi Jinping, after the first telephone conversation with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, from ‘beginning of the war. A “long and significant” conversation, described Zelensky, in which Xi stressed that China intends to promote peace. The mission of the Chinese envoy is closely watched in the West. China has never condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and presents itself as neutral with respect to the conflict, a position criticized last week by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (following her meeting with her Chinese counterpart , Qin Gang, visiting Berlin) who asked China to “clearly name the aggressor”. Last February, Beijing put forward a twelve-point plan for the political solution to the conflict, a plan so far received coldly in the West. The journey of the Chinese envoy comes after Zelensky’s mission to various European countries. In Rome, the Ukrainian leader stressed that Xi had assured him that China would not sell weapons to Russia.

Ukraine will also be discussed at the Hiroshima summit which opens on Friday in Japan and will close on Sunday 21, in which the prime minister Giorgia Meloni and the British prime minister Rishi Sunak will participate as “rookies”. Yesterday the US national security spokesman, John Kirby, wanted to underline in a briefing with the press that “the solidarity of the G7 with Ukraine is stronger than last year” and that the common intention of the leaders present at the summit “it is the isolation of Russian President Vladimir Putin”.

As for the European sphere, Hungary once again crosses the road for the defense of Ukraine. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced that the Budapest government will refuse to approve the next tranche of the European Peace Fund. All this until Ukraine removes OTP Bank from the list of international sponsors of the war, and refrains from supporting new sanctions. Szijjarto expressed “concern about the consequences of the ongoing armed conflict and criticized the proposed sanctions”, which according to him “go against common sense”. He also warned against imposing measures on eight Chinese companies, “as it could damage relations and hinder cooperation between Europe and China.”