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Right moment for talks on Ukraine may come later in the year, Chinese expert says

According to Zhao Long, the need to achieve certain results will grow as Russia, the United States and Ukraine get more deeply involved in their respective 2024 election campaign cycles

SHANGHAI, May 2. /TASS/. An analysis of various factors allows one to suggest that the right moment for starting peace negotiations between the parties to the Ukrainian conflict may come later in the year, Zhao Long, deputy director of the Institute for Global Governance Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told TASS on Tuesday.

After a round of "crucial battles," all parties may obtain a more accurate picture of their strategic goals and capabilities and, at the same time, they may become more amenable to resuming dialogue, the expert noted.

According to Zhao, the need to achieve certain results will grow as Russia, the United States and Ukraine get more deeply involved in their respective 2024 election campaign cycles. "The combination of all these factors makes it clear that the right moment for the resumption of talks is expected to come later in the year," the expert pointed out.

Zhao assumed that a number of neutral countries with significant influence could play a key role in advancing the negotiations. In his view, the G10 group may establish a task force that would involve Russia, Ukraine, the US and European nations, which would allow the parties to set up a stable platform for indirect communications to discuss pressing issues, such as a ceasefire, troop withdrawals, maintaining the peace, and carrying out post-war reconstruction efforts.

On April 26, Chinese President Xi Jinping held his first telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky since the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. The Chinese leader reiterated Beijing's willingness to help establish a negotiation process to end the conflict. Xi also announced plans to send the Chinese government's special envoy for Eurasian affairs "to Ukraine and other countries" to "thoroughly discuss a political settlement to the Ukrainian crisis with all of the interested parties." According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, former Ambassador to Russia Li Hui will lead the country’s delegation, but no timeframe for his potential trip has been determined yet.

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