A special representative of the Chinese government Li Hui paid a visit to Ukraine. He said there is no panacea for war and called on all parties to create conditions for peace talks.
Global Times writes about it.
According to the Chinese special representative, the PRC will help the international community to form "the largest common denominator for the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis", and will also make efforts to "stop hostilities and firing and restore peace as soon as possible".
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China noted that their country "has always played a constructive role in easing the humanitarian situation in Ukraine in its own way." Beijing also pledged to continue to help Ukraine "to the extent possible."
During his visit to Kyiv, Li Hui met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba and other officials. They discussed bilateral relations and agreed to maintain mutual respect and cooperation.
- Zelensky agreed on Li Huiʼs visit on April 26 during the first conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping since the beginning of the war.
- 70-year-old Li Hui served in the Chinese embassy in the USSR in the 1980s, then he was the ambassador to Kazakhstan, and from 2009 to 2019 he was the ambassador to Russia.
- The American broadcaster NBC News told a biography of the special representative, from which it follows that Li Hui is a profitable figure for Moscow. And may even become the most convenient negotiator for the Russians when they have to lay down their arms. Hui devoted most of his career to work in the USSR and post-Soviet countries. In the late 1990s, he was Chinaʼs ambassador to Kazakhstan, and since 2009 he has worked as an ambassador to Russia for ten years. He assured that China needs a "stronger Russia", that both countries equally understand the need for a strong state and should support each other side by side. According to Russian analysts, Hui understands the worldview of the Russians, so his figure as a negotiator is quite comfortable, even if he will incline the Kremlin to decisions that are unpopular among the population of the aggressor country.
- The authors of NBC News also assumed that Hui is also an acceptable option for Ukraine — among his statements were not only pro-Russian, but also pro-Ukrainian. However, the article cites only one quote by Huey from a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation in 2005. At that time, the government of Ukraine was pro-Western, and despite this, Hui convinced that China supports the prosperity of our country in every possible way. However, this happened long before Hui began working as an ambassador in Moscow.