China and Ukraine agree on need for contact as foreign ministers meet in Munich – Technologist

In a post on X, Kuleba said the pair discussed “bilateral relations, trade, and the need to restore a just and lasting peace in Ukraine”.

“We agreed on the need to maintain Ukraine-China contacts at all levels and continue our dialogue.”

Earlier at the Munich Security Conference, Wang called for a diplomatic solution to the war, but said there were “not ripe conditions in place for parties to go back to the negotiating table”, without saying what the terms would need to be.

“China is neither the creator nor a party involved in the Ukraine crisis, but it has neither watched idly nor taken advantage of the crisis to make gains,” Wang said, in what was seen as a swipe at the United States.

The Ukrainians have sought more dialogue with their Chinese counterparts, but President Volodymyr Zelensky and Xi have spoken just once since the Russian invasion in February 2022. China has been invited to a series of Kyiv-backed peace talks, with Li – the special envoy for the region – attending one.

“Well, it’s not an internal Russian issue because we all know that this is a result of the authoritarian regime in Moscow,” Stoltenberg said.

The bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, asked China to “refrain from supporting the Russian military” during a meeting in Munich on Friday.

“It seems that China is not providing arms for Russia, but the concept of arms is something relative. They cannot give them a machine gun but they can provide them with the chips that allow you to build a warplane,” a senior EU official said on condition of anonymity.

Beijing has portrayed itself as neutral on the war in Ukraine and has called for peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv, but its strategic partnership with Russia and the reluctance to condemn Putin has drawn scrutiny from the West.

As the conflict nears the start of its third year, Zelensky appealed in Munich on Saturday for fresh military help against Russia.