US welcomes ‘productive’ brief separate meeting with Chinese envoy regarding Ukraine war at Saudi peace talks

Name: China and Russia hold call after Saudi peace talks over Ukraine exclude Moscow
Uploaded: 2023-08-08T06:30:34.000Z
Duration: 2 min 26 s
Description: China and Russia hold call after Saudi peace talks over Ukraine exclude Moscow

China’s special envoy Li Hui met White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and acting deputy secretary of state Victoria Nuland in Jeddah

State Department spokesman says Washington welcomes Beijing playing a productive role – ‘if that role respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty’

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China’s special envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui was involved in a separate meeting with top US diplomats on the sidelines of international talks in Saudi Arabia at the weekend. A White House spokesman said the US-China meeting centred on the Ukraine war was “productive”. File photo: Reuters

Khushboo Razdanin New York

Published: 2:30pm, 8 Aug 2023Updated: 10:26pm, 8 Aug 2023

The United States on Monday confirmed a “brief separate meeting” between American and Chinese representatives at the international talks hosted at the weekend by Saudi Arabia on ending the war in Ukraine, saying it was “productive” that Beijing took part.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a press briefing the US side believed “it was productive that China attended, I’m not going to speak to the details of the meeting because it was a private meeting. But we thought it was … productive that they came”.

He added that during their chat with China’s special envoy for Eurasia, Li Hui, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and acting deputy secretary of state Victoria Nuland conveyed the message that Washington welcomed Beijing playing a “productive” role – “if that role respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty”.

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China and Russia hold call after Saudi peace talks over Ukraine exclude Moscow

The remarks follow a Xinhua report praising the two-day meeting in Jeddah that involved envoys from 42 nations, with the Chinese state media outlet saying it helped “consolidate international consensus” on seeking a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict.

Russian state media has reported that Kremlin officials were not invited to the talks but were monitoring them.

Just hours after the conclusion of the dialogue in Saudi Arabia, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday held a phone conversation with his Russia counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

The top Chinese diplomat said Beijing and Moscow “should continue to maintain close strategic coordination, promote world multipolarisation and the democratisation of international relations”, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

Speaking on the crisis in Ukraine following Moscow’s invasion last year, Wang said China would continue to “uphold an independent and fair stance” and encouraged involved parties to begin peace talks.