China did not convince Zelensky to give up territories in the name of peace

The first meeting between the Chinese special envoy Li Hui and the leadership of Ukraine ended without an agreement. Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba told his counterpart that Ukraine would not agree to “any agreement that would involve the loss of territory or the freezing of the conflict.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping appointed Li to address the Ukraine conflict after a phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky in April. While Lee visits Kiev and several European capitals, the G7 countries are also developing plans to end the war. A three-day summit of G7 leaders starting Friday in Hiroshima will discuss a proposal to hold a peace conference on Ukraine, the Financial Times reports.

The discussion is to be based on Zelensky’s “peace formula” in 10 points, which includes the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from the occupied regions and the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The settlement plan proposed by Beijing at the beginning of the year does not provide for the withdrawal of troops before the start of negotiations.

Li Hui, who also met with Zelensky and his cabinet chief Andriy Yermak, presented Beijing’s position on the political settlement of the conflict, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to stop hostilities, but to create the conditions for negotiations, all parties should try to build mutual trust, Li said.

During his concert tour, he will also visit Poland, France, Germany and Russia.

There is no trust in Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian leaders do not get tired of repeating themselves. There is no point in negotiating with him because he is the “wrong” person and will attack Ukraine again if he is not defeated, Zelensky told Italian media last week during a visit to Rome. In addition to China, the leaders of Brazil and the Vatican offered help in resolving the conflict (and were joined this week by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, saying that a number of African countries would send a peacekeeping mission to Russia and Ukraine). But the question is not who will act as an intermediary – “Vatican, America, Latin America, China or any other country in the world,” Zelensky said:

Western countries are trying to organize a peace conference, including to discuss a solution on the basis of Ukraine’s proposal, not China’s, but they are ready to involve him as a participant, writes FT. An EU official confirmed to the newspaper that the issue of its organization this summer will be discussed at the meeting of G-7 leaders in Hiroshima.

According to Zelensky’s representative, the discussion will take place at the request of Kiev, and the goal is to convince as many countries as possible to support the “peace formula”. The conference itself will take place without Russia. But Kiev is interested in “China’s involvement in the implementation of the Ukrainian peace formula,” Yermak said.