Soon after Beijing called for peace talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday said that he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Zelensky, however, refused to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US media reported. "I am planning to meet with Xi Jinping," he said. However, the Ukrainian President didn't say when or where the meeting would take place.
"It's an important signal that they are preparing to take part in this theme," he said from Kyiv, referring to China's bid to broker peace between the two countries, according to a report in New York Post. "So far, I see this as a signal, I don't know what will happen later," he added.
Zelensky warned Russia-allied China to not provide Moscow with arms
"I very much want to believe that China will not deliver weapons to Russia, and for me, this is very important," he said. "This is point number one," he added. He also rejected the idea of negotiating with Putin.
Responding to a question from a Turkish reporter, Zelensky said that in the lead-up to the invasion, he had asked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to broker negotiations with the Russian president in a desperate bid to avert a full-scale war, New York Post reported.
"Erdogan was unable to do it at that time. Now he thinks he could get Putin to negotiate," Zelensky said. "But now we cannot do it because it is not the same person. There is no one to talk to." China's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dai Bing, on Thursday, said that sending weapons to Ukraine will only add fuel to the war and will escalate the tension instead of bringing peace.
China's deputy ambassador asked West countries to stop abusing Unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction and work on de-escalation
Addressing the eleventh emergency Special Session on Ukraine in the UN, China's deputy ambassador, hinting towards West countries, said, "The international community should make joint efforts to facilitate peace talks when aired into the Ukraine crisis, brutal facts offer ample proof that sending weapons will not bring peace adding fuel to the fire will only exacerbate tensions."
"Prolonging and expanding the conflict will only make ordinary people pay an even heftier price. We reiterate our appeal that diplomacy and negotiation cannot be abandoned efforts towards a ceasefire and talks must go on," he added.
Dai urged the international community, rather than fending off the flames and seeking self-interest, they should "stop abusing Unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction." Instead, they should act in a way conducive to de-escalation.
with inputs from ANI
