Any efforts to bring the Russo-Ukrainian war to an end are welcomed, a top Kremlin official said on Thursday, April 28th, one day after Chinese President Xi Jinping urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to hold peace negotiations with Russia during his first phone call with the Ukrainian president since the onset of the war.
Speaking at a press conference in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “We are ready to welcome anything that can bring forward the end of the conflict in Ukraine and the achievement of Russia’s goals. We are ready to welcome that.”
The following day, however, Russian strikes battered cities across Ukraine on Friday, killing 26 people including five children, as Kyiv said preparations for a counter-offensive against Moscow’s forces were nearly complete, according to AFP.
In response to the Kremlin’s statement regarding efforts to end the war, Ukraine’s foreign minister tweeted on Friday,
Missile strikes killing innocent Ukrainians in their sleep, including a 2-years-old child, is Russia’s response to all peace initiatives. The way to peace is to kick Russia out of Ukraine. The way to peace is to arm Ukraine with F-16s and protect children from Russian terror.
The attacks came just days after Zelensky said that he and Xi Jinping held a “long and meaningful” phone call where Xi said his government will send a peace envoy to Ukraine and other nations.
During the nearly hour-long phone call, Xi told Zelensky that China would work towards bringing Russia and Ukraine together so that a resolution to the conflict can be reached.
Additionally, Beijing announced that it will send an envoy to Ukraine to help work toward a “political settlement” to the conflict. That envoy will be Li Hui, Beijing’s special representative for Eurasian affairs, who also served as the Chinese ambassador to Russia from 2009 to 2019.
“The Chinese-appointed special envoy will be the candidate best able to handle the progress of the peace talks,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday, emphasizing that China would “continue to play a constructive role in the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.”
The same day, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang stated Beijing’s intention to work with Central Asian countries— Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan—to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table.
“China and the Central Asian countries share a similar view and stance on the crisis in Ukraine,” Qin said following a meeting with the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.
The European Union, France, and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg all welcomed the phone call between Xi and Zelensky.
France said that it supports all dialogue that can “contribute to a resolution of the conflict” that is “in line with the fundamental interests of Kyiv” and international, the AFP reported, quoting a French presidential official.
The EU, for its part, welcomed China’s “first step” toward mediating an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, saying the phone call was “long overdue.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also welcomed the talk between the Chinese and Ukrainian heads of state but was sure to underscore that Beijing has yet to condemn Russia for its actions in Ukraine.
