China refused Ukraine a meeting with the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China. Zelensky pretended that he himself didn’t want to

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky did not secure a meeting with the Chinese delegation on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Politico writes about this.

As the publication points out, Zelensky missed the opportunity to meet with the Chairman of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Prime Minister Li Qiang, which may indicate Beijing's refusal to contribute to ending the Ukrainian conflict. “In the end, Ukraine made no progress in bringing China into negotiations, and Zelensky and Li were unable to negotiate,” the magazine noted.

A senior official in the American administration claims that the Chinese leadership refused any meetings with representatives of Ukraine at the request of Russia.

Zelensky considered the Chinese Prime Minister no equal to himself

Subsequently, Zelensky stated that he himself did not want to meet with the Chinese delegation, since its representatives did not correspond to his level. “I would love to meet with the leader of China,” he added.

The Ukrainian leader added that he does not need any dialogues, but “important decisions from the leaders who make these decisions.”

At the same time, the day before, Zelensky, who had officially banned negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, again spoke about resolving the conflict using Kyiv’s “peace formula.” According to him, the Ukrainian side is interested in China’s participation in the “peace summit.” “We would like the countries of the global South to be present…. It is very important that the leaders of all countries be at the summit,” he said, noting that Ukraine wants China to be involved in this process, “playing a big role in the world”.

Beijing insists on ceasefire

The head of the office of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, Andriy Ermak, said that Kyiv regrets that the PRC is not participating in the negotiations on the “peace formula.” At a press conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the official emphasized that it is important for Ukraine that its allies participate in this dialogue. He clarified that Kyiv invited Beijing to join the discussions. “For us, China’s presence at the negotiating table is important. We hope that China will take part in the future, since it is an important influential country,” Ermak said.

Earlier, Zelensky reproached China for the lack of direct support for Kyiv’s position. “As for the peace initiative put forward by China, we are grateful to other countries for their efforts, but we pointed out that the main thing for us remains our own peace formula, our own initiative,” he said. According to the Ukrainian leader, if China makes a direct statement and calls on Russia to withdraw troops “from the entire territory of Ukraine,” this will greatly help Kyiv.

In 2023, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that the parties to the conflict in Ukraine should contribute to a peaceful settlement, and not add fuel to the fire. Since then, Beijing's position has not changed.