Ukraine tells China it is open to talks if Moscow acts in good faith

Ukraine’s top diplomat said on Wednesday (24 July), after a day of “very deep and concentrated” talks in China, that Kyiv was prepared for talks on the conflict with Russia provided Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were fully respected.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in a video address issued in the evening by his ministry, restated that Ukraine insisted that no agreement could be reached without its participation. He also said he saw no readiness from Russia to negotiate in good faith.

Kuleba is the highest ranking Ukrainian official to travel to China since Russia’s February 2022 invasion. He held talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi for more than three hours, a Ukrainian source in the delegation said.

“I emphasised two principles that must be steadfastly upheld. First, no agreements about Ukraine without Ukraine,” he said in his address.

“Second…full respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. If these two principles are adhered to, we can engage in any discussions and seek any solutions.”

Kuleba’s ministry, in earlier comments, quoted him as saying that Ukraine was ready to engage “when Russia is ready to negotiate in good faith” but he emphasised “that no such readiness is currently observed on the Russian side”.

Russian troops have been inching forward in eastern Ukraine in the 29-month-old invasion ahead of a US election in November that could see the return to the White House of Donald Trump, who has threatened to cut vital aid flows to Ukraine.

China, the world’s second largest economy, positions itself as neutral on the war, but declared a “no limits” partnership with Russia days before the 2022 invasion and has hosted President Vladimir Putin for talks, most recently in May.

China has also provided diplomatic backing to Russia and helped keep Russia’s wartime economy afloat.

At the conclusion of the Guangzhou talks, a Ukrainian source in the delegation told Reuters that the meeting had lasted “longer than planned. This was a very deep and concrete conversation.”

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told a regular press conference in Beijing that both ministers had talked up the need to take a long-term view on building bilateral ties and that China would “continue to expand its food imports from Ukraine”.

Mao Ning added that China was concerned by the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

She also said that both the Russian and Ukrainian sides had “to varying degrees signalled their willingness to negotiate”.

“Although the conditions are not yet ripe, we support all efforts conducive to peace and are willing to continue to play a constructive role in bringing about a ceasefire and the resumption of peace talks,” she added.

Lasting solutions

Kuleba, in his video address, agreed that the two sides had said the conflict required “a just and lasting peace…In other words there is no need to strive for temporary solutions.”

The Kremlin told reporters that Kuleba’s remark on a willingness to hold talks appeared to tally with Russia’s position, but more details were needed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in June that Moscow would end the war if Kyiv retreated from and handed over the rest of four partially-occupied Ukrainian provinces, and dropped its NATO ambitions, ideas rejected in Kyiv as an absurd ultimatum.

Kyiv plans a second summit later this year to advance its vision for peace after an initial gathering in Switzerland in June drew dozens of delegations, but not from Russia or China.

Ukraine says it would like its second summit to be hosted by a “Global South” country and that Russia should attend.

With the possible prospect of a Trump presidency looming, there has been a flurry of diplomacy in recent months. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Kyiv, Moscow, Beijing and Washington this month on what he described as a “peace mission”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Orbán’s efforts, saying that only actors like the United States, China or the European Union were in a position to mediate.

China and Brazil published a joint six-point peace proposal in May, saying they supported the holding of an international peace conference that both sides in the war would recognise.

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