Ukrainian foreign minister visits southern metropolis, rather than capital Beijing, during first trip to China since war broke out.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba wrapped up a four-day visit to China on Friday – his first trip to the country since the Ukraine war started over two years ago – as part of an effort to secure peace and economic support.
At Guangzhou’s Pine Garden on Wednesday, a former residence of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s father and a venue used to host important domestic and foreign officials, Kuleba and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi spoke for more than three hours about Ukraine’s path to peace. The talks were “frank” and carried on longer than planned, according to the Ukrainian diplomat.
While many have speculated about why Guangzhou was chosen as a meeting place rather than capital city Beijing, observers said that while the pick was somewhat surprising, it was not unprecedented.
They said the choice showed that China and Ukraine intended to revive their strained ties amid the war, but it could also have been a strategic decision by Beijing to preserve relations with Russia.
Wang Yiwei, an international relations professor at Renmin University, said that Guangzhou was a “less formal” choice of venue that provided a more relaxed setting for the meeting, which followed Ukraine’s recent criticism of China’s role in the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long hoped that China would use its influence over Russia to end the war. But he seemed to lose patience recently when he accused China of helping Moscow to undermine a global peace summit held in Switzerland last month.
Beijing, which has positioned itself as a peacemaker in the conflict, skipped that summit, to which Russia was not invited. China instead called for a fair summit with equal participation by both Russia and Ukraine.
