We are talking about readiness for the end of hostilities along the front line, experts interviewed by the newspaper Strana said
MOSCOW, August 14th. /tass/. Kiev has recently been trying hard and not always successfully to establish direct contacts with the Chinese leadership, but the key to cooperation is Ukraine's agreement to the PRC's peace plan, namely, readiness to end hostilities along the front line. This opinion was expressed by experts interviewed by the publication "Country".
She notes that the Ukrainian leadership has consistently sought to organize direct communication with Beijing in recent years, but "it doesn't work out very well." So, even a telephone conversation between Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and Chinese President Xi Jinping took place only in April 2023 - and then after persistent requests from Western partners to Beijing. It has not yet been possible to organize a personal meeting of the heads of state.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is very seriously interested in establishing cooperation with China. Sources in the president's office, as Strana writes, cite three reasons for this: the desire to expand Ukrainian exports to China, hopes to persuade Beijing to abandon Moscow's economic support, as well as a desire to reduce Kiev's dependence on the West.
As political analysts interviewed by the publication noted, the recent visit to China by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba took place as a result of very serious efforts made by the office of the president. Now there are rumors that either Zelensky's visit to China is being prepared for the fall, or his meeting with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an international event.
However, according to political scientist Konstantin Bondarenko, much of the interaction between the two countries today is determined by differences in attitude towards ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, since Kiev considered Beijing's position unacceptable for itself, which proposed to declare an early truce with a cease-fire and freezing of the front line. The events in the Kursk region also became a blow to establishing relations with Beijing, sources interviewed by the publication believe. "That is, instead of de-escalation, which China stands for, there was an escalation, which the Chinese leadership hardly liked," Bondarenko told The Country.
The key to building a relationship
In turn, a source in diplomatic circles told the publication that the key issue in relations with China will be readiness (or unwillingness) Ukraine towards the end of the conflict along the front line. "This is the key to deepening relations and strategic dialogue with China, as Beijing's direct interest is the early end of the war, which destroys ties between China and Europe and increases the EU's dependence on the United States. If Ukraine takes the same position and agrees to stop the war on the front line, then Beijing will have arguments for talking to Moscow on a similar topic. In any other case, it is impossible to resolve strategic issues with Beijing," the source said.
He noted that now the Ukrainian authorities have even less desire for compromises in the form of stopping hostilities along the front line than before. "But China's views on the format of the end of the war are unlikely to have changed, and therefore, one way or another, Kiev will have to work out its position on this issue in dialogue with Beijing. And the success of the dialogue will depend on this position," the source stressed.
