CHINESE Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had a meeting in Guangzhou, China.
One of the things they discussed was a political settlement on the crisis in Ukraine.
In a regular press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said Ukraine is ready to have talks with Russia.
“Ukraine is willing and ready to have dialogue and negotiation with Russia. And of course, negotiations should be rational, substantive and aimed at achieving just and lasting peace,” Mao Ning Spokesperson, Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
In spite of this, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that currently, Russia does not appear to be ready to have talks with Ukraine on this matter.
“Kuleba restated … that [Kyiv] is ready to engage the Russian side in the negotiation process at a certain stage, when Russia is ready to negotiate in good faith, but emphasize that no such readiness is currently observed on the Russian side,” Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Russian Presidential Spokesperson Dmitri Peskov also said that Kuleba’s remark on the possibility of a dialogue is in line with Russia’s position.
“The message itself can be said to be in unison with our position,” Spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said.
Russian Presidential Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s comment when asked about kuleba’s remark.
“You know that the Russian side has never refused to negotiate, has always maintained its openness to the negotiation process, but details are important here that you and I do not yet know,” he added.
It can be remembered that Ukraine had ruled out negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin and conducting talks at all until a ‘Russian withdrawal’ had taken place.
“Recently, both Ukraine and Russia have expressed to varying degrees the willingness to negotiate. Although the conditions and timing are not yet ripe, we support all efforts conducive to peace and will continue to play a constructive role to enable a ceasefire and resume the peace talks.”
This is China’s view on the Russia-Ukraine war.
China believes that all conflicts ultimately have to be resolved at the negotiating table, and the solutions to any dispute can only be found through political means.
Mao Ning added that China cares about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and that it will continue to provide humanitarian aid supplies.
The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual concern.
Meanwhile, Mao Ning elaborated on the good relationship between Beijing and Kyiv.
“Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted that China and Ukraine are friends to each other. Everything that stands out in bilateral exchanges is about friendship and cooperation. The two countries established a strategic partnership more than a decade ago, and have respected each other and treated each other as equals. Mutually beneficial cooperation has made steady headway. The presidents of our two countries stressed the importance to view and envision bilateral relations from a long-term perspective, and make sure that bilateral relations and cooperation will keep moving forward. We need to follow this guidance, maintain communication and exchanges, enhance mutual trust, carry forward our traditional friendship, promote the people-to-people bond, and achieve sound and steady growth of China-Ukraine relations.”
In the end, China said that it will continue to increase food imports from Ukraine and work together to keep logistics corridors open and ensure global food security.
