The three-day visit of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to China, which began on Tuesday, and his meeting yesterday with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, is a key topic in leading American publications today, BTA reported in its press review.
A Ukrainian foreign minister is visiting China for the first time since the beginning of the Russian invasion, which led to strained relations between Kiev and Beijing, writes the "Washington Post".
China maintains close ties with Russia and insists that the war end in a way that takes into account the interests of both warring parties. This position of Beijing is in contradiction not only with that of Kiev, but also with Western countries, which insist on an agreement based on the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine, the publication commented.
"I am convinced that a just peace in Ukraine is in China's strategic interest, and China's role as a global power fighting for peace is important", Kuleba said at the beginning of her visit.
Kuleba is expected to lobby for the presence of Chinese representatives at another peace conference before the US presidential elections in early November. The visit of the Ukrainian Foreign Minister is in line with the assessment that without China's participation it is unlikely that a peace agreement that would be favorable to Ukraine can be reached, the "Washington Post" also writes.
Chinese authorities say that Beijing and Kiev maintain friendly relations and cooperate. Wang noted in his opening remarks on Kuleba's visit that bilateral relations continue to develop normally "despite the complex and ever-changing international and regional environment" and gave the growth of trade as an example.
"The Washington Post" also touches on the issue of military aid that Beijing provides to Moscow.
It is believed that China does not sell weapons directly to Russia, but there are numerous reports of the sale of dual-use goods that have been used by the Russian army, the publication points out.
Ukrainian military personnel claim that Russian units have used Chinese artillery shells, but it is unclear whether the source is Beijing or whether they were acquired by Russia through a third party.
Kuleba arrived in China at a time when Ukraine is slowly losing ground in the war and faces increasing uncertainty about the level of support it will receive from the West in the future, the newspaper writes. "New York Times". Moscow and Kiev held brief peace talks in the spring of 2022, but they quickly collapsed, the publication recalls.
Wan said that China is committed to finding a political solution to the crisis and added that although the right moment has not yet come, Moscow and Kiev have sent "signals of their willingness to negotiate", a press release from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, quoted by the "New York Times", says.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Kuleba's expressed readiness for negotiations with Russia was "in unison" with Moscow's position and added that his country has never refused negotiations.
Ukrainian and Western officials have rejected the idea that Russia is ready for good-willed talks. They describe the Kremlin's frequent statements on the issue as a propaganda ploy designed to disguise Moscow's determination to force Ukraine to surrender, the American newspaper commented.
The conditions set by President Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire include the handover of four Ukrainian regions partially controlled by Russia and an assurance from Kiev that it will never join NATO. These demands are unacceptable to Ukraine, which, in turn, insists on regaining full control of its territories and joining the alliance, the American publication summarizes.
Last year, China tried to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, offering a 12-point peace plan that was quickly rejected by European leaders. Since then, Beijing has refrained from public appearances related to the conflict, and last month refused to participate in the peace conference hosted by Switzerland, arguing that Russia was not invited to the consultations, recalls the "New York Times".
Ultimately, the summit failed to gain support from regional powers such as India and Saudi Arabia, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said that his country wants to organize a new peace forum before the US presidential election and that Russia should participate in the negotiations.
Beijing may have judged that now was a good time to intervene, in part because it believed that Ukraine could look more realistically at scenarios for ending the war, Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Washington-based Stimson Center, told The New York Times. "The Chinese want to play the role of peacemaker, but they haven't been able to get it so far because the moment wasn't ripe and Ukraine still believed it could win the war," Sun added.
There is a growing understanding in Kiev that peace talks without China's participation "will not make sense," said Natalia Butyrska, an expert on Ukrainian-Asian relations at the Kiev-based New European Center think tank. "China is the country that can get Russia to join the peace talks," Butyrska said, noting that Kuleba's visit is partly aimed at securing Beijing's participation in the second peace summit.
Ukraine wants to speed up peace talks partly because of the prospect of Trump winning the US presidential election, she said. Trump's promise to quickly end the war has raised concerns in Kiev that the Republican will insist on a peace agreement that would allow Russia to keep the occupied territories and leave it in a position to attack Ukraine again, Butyrska concluded, as quoted by the "New York Times".