Chinese PM decides not to meet with Zelenskyy in Davos – Politico

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, has not managed to meet with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang in Switzerland during the World Economic Forum in Davos, which may indicate China’s unwillingness to end Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, as reported by the Politico media outlet.

Source: Politico

Quote: "Just before a multi-nation peace summit in the Swiss Alps, Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said it was imperative for China to join peace talks and hinted that Zelenskyy would have an opportunity to chat with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

In the end, Ukraine made no headway on getting China to commit to negotiations, and Zelenskyy and Li failed to speak."

Details: According to Politico, it shows that China has no intention of pushing for an end to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale war on Ukraine. Instead, China has sided with Russia, providing it with materials for military use.

"China’s decision not to meet with Ukrainians appeared intentional and not the result of a scheduling problem. One senior U.S. official said Beijing rejected Kyiv’s request for a meeting at some point during their mutual Swiss visits. Another senior U.S. official said China has refused any gatherings after Russia urged it to cease diplomatic encounters with Ukraine," Politico reports with reference to anonymous officials.

A Ukrainian official reportedly denied this and stated that there were no meetings with Chinese officials planned in the schedule of the Ukrainian delegation, and Kyiv never requested such a meeting to begin with. Chinese officials did not respond to a request for a comment.

An unnamed top EU official stated that the EU urged China to renew direct contact with Zelenskyy, noting that the meeting with the Chinese PM in Switzerland would be a positive step.

Politico recalls that both countries have taken certain diplomatic steps since the Russian invasion. Zelenskyy and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke on the phone last April, and next month the Chinese ambassador in Ukraine visited Kyiv. "Relations have gotten far less personal since, though Ukraine maintains hope both sides can restart talks," Politico noted.

Zelenskyy and the Chinese PM arrived in Davos to meet with their foreign counterparts and address the forum's high-level audience.

They delivered very different messages: Li presented China as a safe place to invest despite its economic woes, throwing in a few digs at the United States along the way, while Zelenskyy criticised Putin and rallied allies to Ukraine’s cause. 

"Anyone thinks this is only about us, this is only about Ukraine, they are fundamentally mistaken," he said on WEF’s main stage on 16 January.

Having no Chinese meeting in his schedule, Zelenskyy spent his time interacting with key partners: namely US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

"The meetings came at a crucial moment for Zelenskyy and his country, especially as the ground battle had come to a near halt, leaving both sides locked in attritional artillery bombardments along the massive front line," Politico summed up.

Background:

• A Chinese representative was not among the participants in the fourth meeting of national security advisers on the Ukrainian Peace Formula in Davos on Sunday 14 January.
• Earlier, the President’s Office reported that 81 countries and international organisations attended the Davos meeting on 14 January, but China was not among them, despite the fact that Beijing had received an invitation.
• Of the four meetings on the Peace Formula, a Chinese representative took part in one, which was held in early August 2023 in Jeddah. At the time, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called China's participation a "super breakthrough".
• After a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 15 January, Viola Amherd, President of the Swiss Federal Council, confirmed the country's intention to organise a peace conference on Ukraine at the highest level.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reiterated that he would like China to join the Peace Formula offered by Ukraine.

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