President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has held his first phone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the full-scale war.
"I had a long and meaningful phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. 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," Zelenskyy tweeted.
Xi Jinping met the Russian president both before and during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but did not speak with the Ukrainian president. In March, before Xi's visit to Moscow, the media reported that a telephone conversation between the Chinese leader and the Ukrainian president was being prepared. However, as of 21 March, Zelenskyy said that there were no specifics about the conversation: "We received some signals, but there was no confirmation."
China said that its leader was ready to talk to Zelenskyy when "the conditions are right".
Although China expressed support for ending the war, it did not directly condemn the Russians for the invasion. On the anniversary of the full-scale war, Beijing presented its vision of peace, which, among other things, included the lifting of "unilateral sanctions", i.e. sanctions against Russia. Ukraine commented on this "peace plan" cautiously: it expressed gratitude to China for the initiative, but noted that it could not agree with all the proposals.