Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the only way for his country to achieve peace is through negotiations with Russia..

During their first conversation since the start of the Russian invasion last year, Xi Jinping also told the Ukrainian leader that China would send a special envoy to Kyiv.. Ukrainian officials say the conversation lasted almost an hour. And it was an “important dialogue,” Bloomberg writes..

However, the phone call can be seen as an attempt by Xi Jinping to seize the initiative after the Chinese ambassador to France sparked outrage last week by questioning the independence of Ukraine and other post-Soviet states..

China is trying to put out the fire these comments have caused across Europe. However, the words of the Chinese ambassador hurt Xi Jinping's efforts to portray Beijing as a neutral party helping to end the war..

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“This can be interpreted as loss control or PR, as an attempt to convince the world that China is peaceful and distances itself from Russia.. A telephone conversation should not be taken as a breakthrough,” said Justyna Szczudlik, Deputy Head of Research at the Polish Institute of International Relations in Warsaw..

China's 12-point ceasefire proposal was unveiled earlier this year.. And Kyiv's allies in the West quickly rejected it as one-sided and beneficial only to the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin tries to claim that Zelensky does not want to negotiate.

“We believe it is important for Xi Jinping and Chinese officials to get the Ukrainian perspective on this illegal, unprovoked Russian invasion.. Will it lead to any significant peace movement, plan or proposal?

I don’t think we can say right now,” said John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council..

Earlier it was reported that French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to " The French leader is probably trying to manage foreign policy on his own with the help of his advisers, and diplomats are simply put before the fact.

At the same time, a few days earlier, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for "