(CNN) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Wednesday with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Moscow’s most important diplomatic partner, in the first phone call between the two leaders since the start of the Russian invasion.
“I had a long and meaningful phone call with the President of China Xi Jinping. I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of the ambassador of Ukraine to China, will give a strong impetus to the development of our bilateral relationship,” Zelensky said.
Andrii Yermak, head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, described the phone call as “an important dialogue” in a Telegram post on Wednesday.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV also reported the call, in which Xi confirmed that an envoy would travel to Ukraine and other countries to help conduct “in-depth communication” with all parties for a political settlement of the crisis in Ukraine.
In a briefing on Wednesday, China’s Foreign Ministry said its envoy to Ukraine is Li Hui, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs. Li is the former Chinese ambassador to Russia, serving in the position from 2009 to 2019.
The ministry did not provide further details on when Li will travel and which other countries he will visit.
Beijing has refused to condemn the Russian invasion or make any public calls for Russia to withdraw its troops. Its officials have repeatedly said that the “legitimate” security concerns of all countries should be taken into account and accused NATO and the US of fueling the conflict.
Despite its claims of neutrality and calls for peace talks, Beijing offered Moscow much-needed diplomatic and economic support throughout the invasion.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that Moscow had noted China’s willingness to speed up negotiations with Ukraine after the phone call between Xi and Zelensky.
“We note the readiness on the part of China to make efforts to establish the negotiation process,” Zakharova said at a press conference on Wednesday.
However, he said he also noted that under the current conditions negotiations are not possible and blamed Kyiv for rejecting Moscow’s initiatives.
Diplomatic panic
Wednesday’s phone call was the first time Xi has spoken to Zelensky since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. By comparison, Xi has spoken to Russian leader Vladimir Putin five times since the invasion – including a face-to-face meeting at the Kremlin when the Chinese leader visited Moscow last month and another personal meeting in a regional summit in Central Asia last September.
Reports that discussions were underway between China and Ukraine to arrange a meeting for their leaders first surfaced in March, in the lead-up to Xi’s state visit to Russia.
The reported efforts are widely seen by analysts at the time as part of China’s attempt to present itself as a potential peacemaker in the conflict, where it claims neutrality.
But the call did not come for weeks after Xi and Putin met in Moscow and made a stark confirmation of their alignment on a number of issues — including their shared distrust of the United States.
After a trip to Beijing, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told reporters earlier this month Xi reiterated his willingness to talk to Zelensky “if the conditions and time are right.”
Xi’s call to Zelensky came days after China’s top diplomat in Paris sparked outrage in Europe by questioning the sovereignty of former Soviet republics, in comments that undermine China’s efforts to see as a potential mediator between Russia and Ukraine.
The remarks by China’s ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, who said in a television interview last weekend that former Soviet countries do not have “effective status in international law,” caused confusion. diplomatically, especially in the Baltic states, together with Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia called representatives of China to ask for an explanation.
Officials including from Ukraine, Moldova, France and the European Union all also criticized Lu’s comments.
China later distanced itself from Lu’s comments saying he was expressing a personal opinion, not official policy.
CNN asked Chinese Foreign Ministry official Yu Jun if the timing of the Xi-Zelensky phone call had anything to do with the backlash. “China has issued an authoritative response to the remarks made by the Chinese ambassador to France,” he said. “And I am very clear on China’s position (on the Ukraine crisis).”
The last publicly reported phone call between Xi and Zelensky was on January 4, 2022, weeks before the invasion, in which the two leaders exchanged congratulatory messages to mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic bilateral relations.
Uliana Pavlova contributed to this report.