Kuleba seeks to organize talk between Zelensky, Xi
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is working to set up a call between President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, the minister said in an interview with Bloomberg on Jan. 18.
Beijing has urged a peaceful solution to the Russia-Ukraine war but refused to join sanctions against Moscow or condemn its aggression, maintaining close ties with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian and Chinese presidents have spoken only once since the start of the full-scale war in a phone call last year's April.
"There are things that they can talk about," Kuleba told Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Setting up a direct channel between Xi and Zelensky is part of Kyiv's efforts to gather support for Ukraine's upcoming Global Peace Summit.
After meeting Swiss President Viola Amherd in Bern, Zelensky announced that the Alpine country agreed to host the summit.
As part of preparations for the event, Ukraine organized four international gatherings to discuss Kyiv's 10-point peace formula. The most recent one was held in Davos, just a day before the start of the World Economic Forum, with the participation of over 80 nations.
China's representative did not take part in the Davos peace formula meeting, even though there was a Chinese presence at an earlier gathering in Saudi Arabia last August.
Ukraine and its allies have repeatedly appealed to Beijing to use its influence over Russia and help bring the war to an end.
Alexander Khrebet
