After Xi Jinping’s call with Volodymyr Zelensky thrilled many in Europe, now comes a new take: calm down

Some officials feel the call showed China is serious in its efforts to broker peace in Ukraine and might also change its stance on Russia

But one diplomat calls the excitement ‘a function of the Europeans’ wish to have been handed justification for keeping business as usual with Beijing’

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on a telephone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 26. Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service via EPA-EFE

Published: 9:00pm, 7 May 2023Updated: 9:14pm, 7 May 2023

A frenzy of excited text messages and tweets greeted the news when Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky last month.

It was the first time the two had conversed since Russia invaded Ukraine 14 months ago, and the call fulfilled a request the European Union had been making of Xi since early in the war.

Some Brussels officials and Western European diplomats saw the call as a sign that China was not only serious in its efforts to broker peace in Ukraine, but that it also might change its stance on Russia.

EU officials said that Xi initiated the call, which was taken as further evidence of a change in tack in Beijing – even though the Chinese official read-out said Xi had accepted Zelensky’s invitation for the call.

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China to send envoy to Ukraine after Xi and Zelensky hold first call since Russian invasion

Days later, when China seemed to vote for a United Nations resolution containing language critical of the Russian invasion, the rhetoric stepped up a notch.

After Xi Jinping’s call with Volodymyr Zelensky thrilled many in Europe, now comes a new take: calm down

Some officials feel the call showed China is serious in its efforts to broker peace in Ukraine and might also change its stance on Russia But one diplomat calls the excitement ‘a function of the Europeans’ wish to have been handed justification for keeping business as usual with Beijing’

Some officials feel the call showed China is serious in its efforts to broker peace in Ukraine and might also change its stance on Russia

But one diplomat calls the excitement ‘a function of the Europeans’ wish to have been handed justification for keeping business as usual with Beijing’