Zelensky: “ambiguous” China’s position on the Russian invasion

The president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said he would like to renew relations with China, whose position on the Russian invasion he described as “ambiguous”.

“I would like them to help Ukraine,” Volodymyr Zelensky told Ouest-France in an interview, adding that a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping “would be difficult today.”

Zelensky told the newspaper that before Russia’s invasion seven months ago “there were channels of communication with Beijing and we had great economic and trade cooperation.”

The comments came after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Ukrainian counterpart this week during the UN General Assembly in New York.

After the meeting, Wang said China called on all parties to the conflict to resume talks and de-escalate nuclear risks, saying there was no “room for trial and error” when it came to the security of nuclear facilities.

“China has always been committed to pursuing peace and promoting talks. It has never been idle, nor added fuel to the fire, nor will it seize the opportunity to gain selfish interests,” Wang told Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba, according to the South China Morning Post.

Another Chinese official, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, dodged a question this week about the legality of Russian “referendums” underway in four occupied regions of Ukraine. Instead he reiterated China’s call for “all parties to resolve their differences through dialogue and consultation.”

At the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, EU foreign affairs chief Borrell also spoke to Wang Yi about the conflict in Ukraine. Borrell “reiterated Europe’s expectations that China will use its influence on Russia to end the war.”

China’s Wang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are scheduled to address the UN General Assembly on Saturday.