Advertisement
US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

White House hails possibility of Xi Jinping speaking with Ukrainian president Zelensky

  • ‘We believe that ... President Xi himself should hear directly the Ukrainian perspective,’ National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says
  • Wall Street Journal reported Xi would make the call next week; Sullivan adds that US President Biden is willing to speak soon with Xi

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
29
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US supports the reported plan for Chinese President Xi Jinping to speak with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: AP
Robert DelaneyandOrange Wangin Washington

A senior White House official has praised a reported plan by Chinese President Xi Jinping to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and confirmed US President Joe Biden’s “willingness” to schedule a talk with the Chinese leader.

Advertisement

“We have been encouraging President Xi to reach out to President Zelensky because we believe that the PRC and President Xi himself should hear directly the Ukrainian perspective and not just the Russian perspective on this,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivering a speech at the closing ceremony of the National People’s Congress in Beijing on March 13. Photo: Kyodo
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivering a speech at the closing ceremony of the National People’s Congress in Beijing on March 13. Photo: Kyodo

Sullivan was referring to a Wall Street Journal report which, citing people familiar with the plan, said that Xi would make the call after visiting Moscow next week.

“We have in fact advocated to Beijing that that connection take place,” Sullivan added while he and other administration officials travelled with Biden to San Diego for an Aukus meeting. “We’ve done so publicly and we’ve done so privately to the PRC.”

Beijing’s recent engagements with Moscow, including a trip there by its top diplomat Wang Yi last month, have prompted US and other Western governments to accuse the Chinese government of siding with Russia in the war, which has dragged on for more than a year.
Advertisement

A 12-point peace proposal Beijing offered on the war’s one-year anniversary did little to change that assessment, partly because it did not call on the Kremlin to withdraw its forces. Reports that Xi will visit Moscow soon have thrown more doubt on Beijing’s claims to be impartial.

loading
Advertisement