Minister of Foreign Affairs visits China and asks for help to end the conflict: a summary of the 881st day of war
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba asked Beijing this Tuesday, on the occasion of his first visit to China since the start of the war with Russia, for a “direct dialogue” for the country. put an end to the conflict.
“Deep, detailed and substantive discussions are planned with my Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on ways to achieve a just peace,” wrote the head of Kiev’s diplomacy on the social network Instagram.
Kuleba maintained that competition between peace plans should be “avoided” and, in this sense, he said it was “very important that Kiev and Beijing engage in direct dialogue and exchange their views”.
Despite its close economic, diplomatic and military ties with Moscow, further strengthened since the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory launched in February 2022, Beijing intends to play a mediating role in the conflict.
Dmytro Kuleba’s visit, which is expected to last until Friday, is the first by a senior Ukrainian leader to Beijing since the beginning of the Russian invasion. “This is also the first bilateral visit of the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs to China since 2012,†he also wrote on the social network.
The move comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky opened the door to negotiations with Russia for the first time since the unsuccessful talks in 2022. It also comes after strong criticism from NATO to economic aid from Beijing to Moscow.
Other news that marked the day:
â ARussia shot down 25 drones this morning Ukrainians, 21 of whom are in the annexed province of Crimea and the Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said. “Anti-aircraft defenses intercepted and destroyed two ‘drones’ over the Bryansk region and two over the Belgorod region, as well as 21 ‘drones’ over the territory of the Republic of Crimea and the sea waters Black”, he wrote on Telegram.
⇒ Moscow accused Kiev this Tuesday of having used ‘drones’ to attack a ferry, killing and injuring people in a port in the Kerch Strait, which separates Russia from Crimea. “Emergency services are currently working on site. The fire is under control and there is no risk of it spreading. Unfortunately, there are injuries and deaths among the crew and port employees”, announced the governor of the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratiev, via social media.
⇒ The leader of the Russian Investigative Committee (CIR), Alexander Bastrikin, has proposed depriving citizenship of naturalized people who refuse to join the military ranks to defend their new country. “If you avoid the summons, your citizenship will be withdrawn”, defended Bastrikin, as published by the CIR, the highest federal investigative entity, on the social network Telegram. Bastrikin also appealed to the members of the committee to actively participate in the raids, in order to include in the military census those who try to evade the draft
⇒ Around 3,800 Ukrainian prisoners are integrated into the country’s Armed Forces and the majority have already completed their training, said today Roman Kostenko, secretary of the national security commission , defense and information services of the parliament of Ukraine. Kostenko acknowledged that the demand for mobilization of prisoners into the Ukrainian Armed Forces has decreased due to the fact that the majority of volunteers have been incorporated into military service. However, he admitted that another 1200 inmates could soon enlist.
