Ukraine’s top diplomat explains why he does not consider China to be hostile to Ukraine

Kuleba told about this in an interview with Ukrainian TSN news service. 

According to him, the People's Republic of China, due to its stance on the war with Russia, cannot currently be called either a friend or an enemy of Ukraine.

“I think that neither word is appropriate for China, because these are such two extremes. Of course, in general, in the broadest context, China is not an enemy state for us. But today's stance of China, the real attitude to the war, and not declarative statements, is exactly in the middle of the spectrum between extreme negative and extreme positive,” Kuleba said.

In his opinion, Beijing cannot afford to continue to take an aloof position.

“In our opinion, China is not the kind of state that can afford to pretend in the conditions of such a global crisis that they are detached from all this, trying to balance both the words of support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the words that the Russian Federation’s concerns should be taken seriously, somehow taking into account its aggressive intentions and wishes,” Kuleba said.

He added that it is becoming increasingly difficult for China to find the balance in the current realities.

“Pay attention to the press conference of the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, when he was asked to comment on the missile strikes on Kyiv: “Well, I don't know what you're talking about at all…” It is impossible to assume that he really does not know what he was asked about. Diplomacy is very professional in China. We definitely expect more from China. And it's not just in the interests of Ukraine, but in the interests of China itself - to demonstrate leadership and strength in the international arena,” Ukraine’s foreign minister is convinced.

He noted that after the re-election of Xi Jinping, the first step that would be appropriate for him was to have a phone conversation with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, because it has not happened since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

“The issue of this conversation has been on the agenda since the first days of the war. When events of tectonic impact on the global security architecture take place, a conversation between leaders is definitely needed. In this regard, I would like to draw attention to the fact that Ukraine takes a clear position precisely with regard to China's territorial integrity. We count on the fact that China will justly take a position in support of Ukrainian territorial integrity without any second, third and fourth levels of interpretation,” Kuleba emphasized.

• On October 19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China stated that they allegedly did not know about the drone attack on Kyiv, when five people died and the infrastructure was damaged, instead offering "restraint and diplomatic efforts."