President Zelenskyy had telephone call with Xi Jinping

On 26 April, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a telephone call with the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping. 

Source: Zelenskyy on Twitter, President's spokesman Serhii Nikiforov on Facebook, Xinhua

Quote Zelenskyy: "I had a long and meaningful phone call with 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."

Details: Ukrainian President's spokesman reported that Zelenskyy had an hour-long telephone call with the leader of People's Republic of China. 

The President's Office promised to reveal more details soon. 

At this moment of time, there is no decree on the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China on the President’s website, but as of 13 April 2023, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba reported that he submitted candidates for the positions of Ukraine’s ambassadors to China, India and Brazil for President’s consideration. 

Chinese publication Xinhua reports that Xi Jinping tried to convince Zelenskyy to begin a dialogue and negotiations: "Dialogue and negotiations are the only viable option of settling the ‘Ukrainian crisis’ [this is the way China and its media calls Russian invasion in Ukraine – ed.]; no one can win the nuclear war."

Background: 

• On 16 April, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba reported that he discussed the principles of establishing peace in Ukraine with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang.
• On 20-22 April, Xi Jinping paid an official visit to the Russian Federation, where he met with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
• It was reported earlier that Chinese leader Xi Jinping planned to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the first time since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine.
• On 24 February, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he would like to hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
• Before that, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has published a so-called "peace plan" with its ideas for the settlement of Russia's war against Ukraine. The document consists of 12 points. 
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not consider China's proposals of settlement of the war in Ukraine to be a peace plan, but said he saw positive things in the initiative.

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