The announcement that Li would be sweeping through Europe to engage in "in-depth communication with all parties on political settlement of the Ukraine crisis" was made after Chinese President Xi Jinping had a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in April.
The top Chinese envoy’s tour comes amid speculations about an imminent Ukraine “counteroffensive.” The much-heralded “onslaught” would be carried out with the billions of dollars of weaponry with which Washington and its NATO allies have provided the Kiev regime.
Now, the West is described as expecting Ukraine to deliver on the goods, showing success on the battlefield. The very countries that the Chinese top envoy will reportedly visit – France, Germany and Poland – are among the main suppliers of weapons and financial assistance to Ukraine and it will be interesting to hear how China’s “peace” tour goes down with them.
As to Russia, it has repeatedly said that it values China’s sincere desire to contribute to the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. The Kremlin has emphasized several times that it is ready to negotiate, whereas the government in Kiev has ruled out any talks as long as Putin remains president of Russia.
“We have repeatedly said that Russia’s goals can be achieved in various ways — these are political and diplomatic or, if political and diplomatic are currently impossible – and in the case of Ukraine, they are impossible, unfortunately – via the military way, that is, through a special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated.
