Top Chinese envoy heads to Ukraine, Russia in Europe ‘peace' tour
A top Chinese ambassador is beginning a tour of Europe that will take him first to Ukraine and lastly to Russia, in a trip Beijing says is aimed at discussing a 'political settlement' to the Ukraine crisis.
Li Hui, China's special representative for Eurasian affairs since 2019 and a former envoy to Russia, will also visit Poland, France and Germany on the multiday trip, the foreign ministry announced last week, 'for in-depth communications with different parties for a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis'.
Diplomat Li, a fluent Russian speaker, is the most senior Chinese official to visit Ukraine since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and his trip could coincide with the beginnings of a long-anticipated counteroffensive by Ukraine to recapture territory seized and occupied by Russia.
The visit comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone call late previous month with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the first known wartime call between the two leaders.
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