(Kyiv) A Chinese envoy sent by Beijing to discuss a “political settlement” of the conflict is Wednesday in Kyiv, a visit awaited by Volodymyr Zelensky, armed with new promises of Western weapons, to see China use its influence on Russia.
“A meeting is possible in the afternoon” between the Ukrainian president and Li Hui, told AFP a senior Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
This exchange would be a first between Mr. Zelensky – who encourages Beijing to weigh in on Vladimir Putin – and a senior Chinese official, since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
According to Beijing, Li Hui, special representative for Eurasian affairs and former Chinese ambassador to Moscow, is supposed to discuss the “political settlement” of the Ukrainian conflict during a European tour which will also take him through Poland, France, Germany and Russia.
China, a close partner of Moscow, has never publicly condemned the Russian invasion.
Beijing proposed a 12-point plan in February to end the war, viewed with skepticism by Westerners, and its President Xi Jinping visited Moscow in March, giving token support to Vladimir Putin in the face of Westerners.
“At the end of the month (Mr. Hui) will come to us,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Roudenko said on Tuesday evening, quoted by the TASS news agency, without giving a precise date at this stage.
“The idea is to make these countries aware of the Chinese proposals for a settlement policy in Ukraine and to hear the points of view and comments of the interlocutors concerned”, he assured.
“Weapons Flow”
This visit to Kyiv by Li Hui comes just after Volodymyr Zelensky’s European tour during which he received the promise of new deliveries of arms necessary to launch a major counter-offensive.
He was heard on several points – anti-aircraft missiles, attack drones, armored vehicles – and progressed towards the delivery of Western fighter planes, a request from Kyiv for almost 15 months.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced in turn that France would soon begin training Ukrainian pilots and the United Kingdom and the Netherlands said together on Tuesday evening that they wanted to build an “international coalition” to supply American F-fighters. 16 to the Ukrainian army.
Sending Western planes to Kyiv, in addition to the Soviet MiGs already supplied by Poland and Slovakia, would be an undeniable added value for Ukraine.
Asked about the new Western deliveries, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday “to see that the flow of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine is increasing and that the level of tactical and technical weapons supplied is also increasing” .
Bakhmout, always
On the battlefield, Ukraine on Tuesday quantified for the first time its gains of the last few days around the city of Bakhmout (east), on the flanks of which it is advancing at the very moment when Russian forces are about to attack. take full control after months of bloody battle.
“In recent days, our troops have liberated about 20 square kilometers north and south” of Bakhmout, said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar.
But this local offensive does not seem to be the big attack promised by Kyiv for months, Volodymyr Zelensky estimating until recently that his army “needed more time”.
For its part, Russia has claimed to be progressing a little more within Bakhmout itself, a city now devastated that it hopes to conquer after a series of humiliating setbacks.
According to the leader of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigojine, who announced on Tuesday the death at the front of an American fighting alongside the Ukrainians, a last reduction of 1.46 km2 of the city is resisting his men, who have been on the front line for months.
Such a capture would however have little strategic importance on the course of the war, according to observers, a fortiori if the city is opened up by Ukrainian forces.