Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Austria, Slovenia, and Poland this week amid stalled peace talks over the war in Ukraine, Chinese officials said, as quoted by Agence France-Presse, BTA reports.
Wang Yi's tour will run from September 12 to 16, during which he will meet with his counterparts from the three countries, said Lin Jiang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The foreign minister's visit comes amid increasing Russian airstrikes on Ukraine.
China has regularly called for peace talks and respect for the territorial integrity of all countries, including Ukraine. However, it has never condemned Russia for its actions in Ukraine and has even deepened trade, diplomatic, and military ties with Moscow. China has also been accused by some Western countries of helping Russia circumvent Western sanctions.
Poland said earlier today that it had scrambled its aircraft to shoot down "hostile objects" that had entered its airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine.
When asked about the incident by AFP correspondents in Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesman said he was "not aware". Regarding Wang Yi's upcoming visit to Poland, the spokesman highlighted the "traditional friendship" between the two countries. He said the Chinese foreign minister and his counterpart would discuss "issues in the field of Polish-Chinese and Chinese-European relations, as well as regional issues of common interest and international policy issues".