Paris reaffirms its unwavering support for Ukraine
On the occasion of the visit to Europe of a Chinese envoy, sent by Beijing to discuss a political settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, France reaffirmed its support as well as that of the European Union (EU) for the ‘Ukraine. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its Director General for Political and Security Affairs Frédéric Mondoloni, underlined “Russia’s full responsibility for the outbreak and continuation of the war”during a meeting with the Chinese special envoy, Li Hui, in charge of the Ukrainian file, according to a press release from Paris.
According to this text, France, while welcoming “the resumption of dialogue between China and Ukraine”recalled that kyiv “exercised his right of self-defence” and stressed that she and the EU were “determined to support [l’Ukraine] in the long term, in all areas ».
Li Hui, a former Chinese ambassador to Moscow, has been touring Europe for a week to discuss the “political settlement” of the conflict in Ukraine. He had spent two days in kyiv and one day in Poland before going to France. He must then win Germany and Russia. Moscow and Beijing maintain close relations. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Moscow in March where he said relations “entering a new era”.
China calls itself neutral in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and has been criticized for refusing to condemn the Russian invasion. On Friday, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Wojciech Gerwel had “expressed the hope that China (…) will condemn Russia’s aggression and put pressure on Russia to return to respecting the principles of international law”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on the strength of new promises of Western weapons, and European countries hope that Beijing will use its influence on Moscow to help end the war. Ukraine will not accept “no proposal that would involve the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict”kyiv said on Wednesday after its foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba met with Li Hui.