Beijing has repeatedly tried to present itself as a potential intermediary between Moscow and Kyiv

 
Volodymyr Zelensky and Xi Jinping have held a ‘long and meaningful’ phone call – the first contact since the war in Ukraine began.

China is keen to send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties in an effort to end the crisis.

Beijing has repeatedly tried to present itself as a potential intermediary between Moscow and Kyiv.

Xi also promoted his 12-point peace plan for Ukraine, one greeted with caution by Kyiv – but Zelensky has been careful not to appear to reject Chinese offers outright.

White House spokesman John Kirby welcomed the phone call as “a good thing” but said it was too early to know whether it would lead to “some sort of meaningful peace movement, or plan or proposal”.

“We encourage President Xi (Jinping) to advocate for this exact essential key point, which must include the withdrawal of Russian forces from sovereign Ukrainian territory consistent with the U.N. charter,” Kirby recently said.

“The entire world would like to see this war end, especially the Ukrainians themselves, who have put forward their own plan for a just peace, which draws again on these same U.N. principles.”