Kremlin and NATO Welcome Call Between Chinese and Ukrainian Presidents

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed on Thursday the phone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. However, he noted that "this does not change the fact that China has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine." For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that Russia welcomes anything that may help end the conflict in Ukraine. Peskov stated that Russia is aware of the details of what the two presidents discussed, and their positions on the conflict are well known. He added, "We are ready to welcome anything that can expedite the end of the conflict in Ukraine and allow Russia to achieve all the goals it has set for itself," pointing out that "simply that they communicated is a sovereign matter for both of them, and it relates to their bilateral dialogue." The Chinese and Ukrainian presidents had their first phone talks yesterday, Wednesday, since the beginning of the invasion, after Kyiv had publicly called for such discussions for months.