Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to visit Ukraine, just as he did last week with Moscow.
The Government of kyiv tries in this way to make a move at the highest level on the international diplomatic scene by launching an offer of dialogue to the main supporter of Moscow.
The announcement comes just days after Xi presented his 12-point peace plan in the Russian capital.
"We are ready to see it here," Zelenski said during an interview with the Associated Press agency and published this Wednesday.
"I want to talk to him.
I already had contact with him before the full-scale war.
But throughout this year, more than a year, I had not, ”he added during one of the trips that has taken him these days to different fronts of the country.
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Beijing has not yet responded to that invitation or commented on it.
Of course, he acknowledges – as Zelensky himself did – that he has open channels of “communication with all interested parties, including Ukraine”, as the spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao, responded when asked about the gesture of the Ukrainian president. None.
Zelenski's offer comes a day before President Pedro Sánchez goes to Beijing, invited by Xi.
Since Xi's last trip to Russia was announced in February – the eighth he has made to meet Putin – the Ukrainian president has repeatedly shown himself in favor of allowing China to participate in the search for solutions to the conflict.
The strategy used has been to row in favor, despite the fact that there are aspects of the document presented by Beijing that, in principle, may not be to Kiev's liking, such as questioning its sovereignty in territories occupied by Russia such as the Crimean peninsula. or the eastern region of Donbas.
The Chinese president, who after being re-elected for a third term is gaining weight in the international arena, went to the Russian capital last week to present his plan to his Russian counterpart.
In this way, Beijing intends to promote a dialogue with which to put an end to the large-scale war unleashed since the Russian president invaded the neighboring country with his troops thirteen months ago.
Xi's is one of the few weighty supports that Putin has in the international sphere.
For this reason, the fact that the trip to Moscow ended without an announcement of the shipment of arms or ammunition from Beijing was even welcomed by Zelensky, who interpreted, in this way, that Putin is isolated.
"[Xi's] visit did not go well for Russia," he said in the AP interview.
peace plan
With his invitation, the President of Ukraine takes a step forward and tries to test whether the initiative that the Chinese president has just brought to Moscow really poses a solution that he really wants Ukraine to accept.
Zelenski wants to show that he not only receives and visits those who are his great allies in the European Union, NATO or the United States.
He also wants to see, hear and meet the most important pillar for Putin on the international scene.
But what will China's response be?
And what will Russia's response be?
Throughout the more than 13 months of the large-scale invasion, the Ukrainian president has given many signs that he is willing to dirty his boots on the ground.
His proactivity in the domestic and international arenas is far superior to that of the Russian president.
It is easy to see Zelenski moving to enclaves overlooking the hottest points of the contest.
On the contrary, Vladimir Putin's recent visit to Mariupol has been the most risky he has decided to undertake.
Away from the front lines for months, this city in Ukraine's Donetsk region was razed to the ground before being captured by his troops last May.
Ukrainian authorities claim that at least 22,000 people died.
Zelensky maintains a frantic pace in his schedule in order not to lose control of Ukraine internally and externally.
In recent days, he has made daily trips to the eastern and southern front of the country, he has also visited the north, next to the border with Russia, on whose return trip by train he gave the interview in which he invited Xi.
With this type of play, Zelenski does not take his eyes off diplomacy at the highest level.
There, the Chinese route plays a vital role and he also wants to take advantage of it.
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