A Chinese special envoy will arrive in Kyiv for a two-day visit on Tuesday, as part of a European tour to promote Beijing-led peace negotiations on the war in Ukraine.
The Chinese foreign ministry, in a statement last week, said Li Hui, the country’s special representative for Eurasian affairs since 2019 and former Russian ambassador, will also travel to Poland, France, and Germany during the multiday trip “for in-depth communications with different parties for a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”
The Chinese envoy will start his Europeean tour where he will first go to Ukraine and then to Russia, according to Al-Jazeera.
China, which has close ties with Russia, has tried to position itself as a mediator in the war in Ukraine.
Li Hui, a fluent Russian speaker, will be the most senior Chinese official to visit Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. He served as China’s ambassador to Russia from 2009 to 2019.
Hui’s visit could coincide with the beginning of Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture territory seized and occupied by Russia. China’s high-ranking diplomat Li Hui will be in Kyiv May 16 and 17, according to AFP.
Beijing has said the aim of the tour was to “communicate with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis".
Xi visited Moscow in March and has been criticised for refusing to condemn Mosco’s war on its neighbour.
A month later, he spoke to Zelensky for the first time since Russia’s invasion. The Ukrainian leader described the exchange as a “long and meaningful" conversation.
China’s 12-point peace plan, which consists of Beijing’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis, was presented on the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February this year.
Given Beijing’s links to Russia, the proposal was viewed with some scepticism in Western capitals. It exhorted “both sides” to consent to a gradual de-escalation and give up the “Cold War mentality,” reported Al-Jazeera.