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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday said he would meet with China’s Xi Jinping — after Beijing called for peace talks to end the war — though he categorically refused to negotiate with Vladimir Putin.
“I am planning to meet with Xi Jinping,” Zelensky said during a wide-ranging, two-hour press conference on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This will be important for world security.”
He did not 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 added from Kyiv, referring to China’s bid to broker peace between the two countries.
“So far, I see this as a signal — I don’t know what will happen later.”
He also 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.”
Zelensky, meanwhile, 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.
“[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.
