Ukrainian Foreign Minister Seeks Common Ground with China for Peace

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is on a mission to find “common ground” with China to end the war with Russia. Kuleba’s visit to China is the first by a Ukrainian foreign minister since the war began. During his visit, he met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Guangzhou, aiming to find a mutual basis for peace. Kuleba believes that a just peace in Ukraine aligns with China’s strategic interests and hopes to secure China’s support for a peace conference before the US presidential election.

China maintains close ties with Russia and has a unique stance on the conflict. Although China did not attend a recent peace conference in Switzerland, it is actively seeking to facilitate a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia to boost its diplomatic standing over the US, which is currently facing significant diplomatic scrutiny both internally and externally. China’s push for an end to the war considers the interests of both sides, a position at odds with Ukraine and Western countries that demand a Russian withdrawal.

China has recently achieved diplomatic success by brokering the Beijing Declaration, an agreement among Hamas, Fatah, and other Palestinian groups to form an interim national reconciliation government for post-war Gaza. If China manages to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, its diplomatic influence will significantly increase. The global community may then view China as a nation capable of brokering peace deals, in contrast to nations known for starting conflicts abroad.