MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet with China’s special envoy for Eurasian affairs Li Hui in Moscow on Friday to discuss Ukrainian conflict settlement.

The visit to Moscow was a part of the Chinese delegation’s European tour to promote its vision of Ukrainian reconciliation.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said in mid-May that the idea of the tour was to inform countries about China’s proposals for a political settlement in Ukraine and to hear their opinions and commentaries. According to the senior Russian diplomat, Moscow expects the Chinese envoy to share his impressions from visits to Kiev and to Europe.

The agenda of the visit also includes Li’s meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin.

 

European tour

On May 16-17, Li visited Kiev and held separate meetings with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, head of his office Andrey Yermak, and Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba. He said back then that there was no universal method that could be used to settle the Ukrainian crisis and promised that China would try to help resolve the problem. In turn, the chief of staff of the Ukrainian president’s office asked Beijing to join Zelensky’s peace plan.

On May 19, the Chinese diplomat discussed the Ukrainian issue with Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Wojciech Gerwel. The Polish side expressed its support to Zelensky’s so-called peace plan and expressed hope that China would persuade Russia to follow it. In response, the Chinese envoy mentioned his country’s 12-point roadmap.

The Chinese special envoy visited France and Germany on May 24. In Paris, he met with French Foreign Ministry’s Director for Politics and Security Frederic Mondoloni, In Berlin, the Chinese special envoy Li held talks with Andreas Michaelis, State Secretary of the German Federal Foreign Office. The Chinese diplomat said that Beijing supported the intention of European countries to address the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis in order to identify a path to peace that could help to "figure out what is a high priority and what is a low priority," as well as their efforts to ensure long-term stability on the European continent.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning said the roots of the Ukrainian crisis lied in a "major outbreak of contradictions" in the management of European security.

 

China’s proposal

On the anniversary of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a 12-point document with its proposals on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. The document calls for a ceasefire, for observing the security interests of all the parties, for settling the humanitarian crisis, for the exchange of prisoners between Moscow and Kiev, and for abandoning unilateral sanctions without relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that Brussels did not take China's initiative seriously and was ready to discuss only the so-called peace plan of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

 

Russia’s stance

The Russian government has repeatedly said it was ready to negotiate crisis settlement with Ukraine. However, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, this dialogue can take place only if Russia’s legitimate interests and concerns are taken into account.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has pointed to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s move late last September to outlaw any talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin as a key obstacle to peace. She also slammed Zelensky’s initiatives, including his demand that Russia withdraw troops from its new regions, "showing how out of touch with reality Kiev is.".