According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine is looking for an opportunity to communicate “directly” with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to help end its war with Russia, the South China Morning Post said on Thursday.
In an interview with SCMP, the Ukrainian leader urged China to use its outsize political and economic influence over Russia to bring an end to the fighting.
“It’s a very powerful state. It’s a powerful economy … So (it) can politically, economically influence Russia. And China is [also a] permanent member of the UN Security Council,” the report quoted Zelenskyy as saying.
Ukraine was invaded by Russia on February 24. Since then, huge territories surrounding Kiev have been retaken by Ukrainian forces after Russia gave up on its advance on the city in April.
In an online forum organised by the Australian National University in Canberra on Wednesday, Zelenskyy spoke to students from 21 Australian universities. Zelenskyy responded that he would prefer Beijing to join nations like the United States and Australia that have denounced the Russian incursion that started in February when asked about China’s stance by a student.
