China’s Xi, Zelensky speak for 1st time since Russian invasion; Moscow angry

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had a “long and meaningful” phone conversation today, their first known contact since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago.

The phone call, which officials say lasted nearly an hour, is a significant development in efforts to resolve the conflict. It comes two months after Beijing, which has long been aligned with Russia, said it wanted to act as a peace mediator in the war against Ukraine and after Xi visited Moscow last month.

“I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations,” Zelensky says in a Facebook post without elaborating.

Ukraine’s presidential office says more details of what was said would be published later in the day.

In China, the phone call was reported by state media. China Central Television says Beijing intends to send an envoy to Kyiv to discuss “a political settlement” for the war.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova commended China’s approach but was scathing about Ukraine’s stance.

Referring to the call, she praised Beijing’s “readiness to strive to establish a [peace] negotiations process,” while slamming what she called Kyiv’s “rejection of any sound initiatives aimed at a settlement.”

Moscow accused Kyiv of undermining any peace attempts and says it rejected “any sensible initiatives aimed at a political and diplomatic settlement.”