Chinese President Xi Jinping has held a flurry of talks with state leaders, including Russian Vladimir Putin, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But there’s one big omission from his diplomatic outreach: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Xi has spoken with at least eight world leaders in the month since the invasion, stressing Beijing’s preference for dialogue over war and sanctions. The leader of the world’s second-largest economy has encouraged Russia to move toward negotiations, offered to work with France and Germany to promote talks and told President Joe Biden that China "stands for peace.”
When asked Wednesday why Xi hadn’t spoken with Zelenskyy, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular news briefing that China had "smooth communications” on the Ukraine issue. "China supports all parties to uphold the concept of indivisibility of security,” Wang said.