White House hails possibility of Xi Jinping speaking with Ukrainian president Zelensky

A senior White House official has praised a reported plan by Chinese President Xi Jinping to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and confirmed US President Joe Biden's "willingness" to schedule a talk with the Chinese leader.

"We have been encouraging President Xi to reach out to President Zelensky because we believe that the PRC and President Xi himself should hear directly the Ukrainian perspective and not just the Russian perspective on this," National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivering a speech at the closing ceremony of the National People's Congress in Beijing on March 13. Photo: Kyodo alt=Chinese President Xi Jinping delivering a speech at the closing ceremony of the National People's Congress in Beijing on March 13. Photo: Kyodo>

Sullivan was referring to a Wall Street Journal report which, citing people familiar with the plan, said that Xi would make the call after visiting Moscow next week.

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"We have in fact advocated to Beijing that that connection take place," Sullivan added while he and other administration officials travelled with Biden to San Diego for an Aukus meeting. "We've done so publicly and we've done so privately to the PRC."

Beijing's recent engagements with Moscow, including a trip there by its top diplomat Wang Yi last month, have prompted US and other Western governments to accuse the Chinese government of siding with Russia in the war, which has dragged on for more than a year.

A 12-point peace proposal Beijing offered on the war's one-year anniversary did little to change that assessment, partly because it did not call on the Kremlin to withdraw its forces. Reports that Xi will visit Moscow soon have thrown more doubt on Beijing's claims to be impartial.

Sullivan cast some doubt on the Xi-Zelensky call plan when he added that Kyiv officials were not able to confirm the report.

"We have spoken with our Ukrainian counterparts today," he said. "They have not yet actually gotten any confirmation that there will be a telephone call or video conference.

"We hope there will be ... because it would potentially bring more balance and perspective to the way that the PRC is approaching this."

Sullivan also said that the conclusion of the National People's Congress in Beijing may give Biden a chance to speak with Xi.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has yet to speak directly with Xi since the start of the Russian invasion. Photo: EPA-EFE alt=Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has yet to speak directly with Xi since the start of the Russian invasion. Photo: EPA-EFE>

"We would expect President Biden and President Xi to have a conversation, so at some point in the coming period," Sullivan said.

"President Biden has indicated his willingness to have a telephone conversation with President Xi once they're back and in stride coming off the National People's Congress."

The White House considered Biden's meeting with Xi in November to be "constructive" in stabilising bilateral relations and laying the groundwork for "more robust" in-person interactions between Washington and Beijing in 2023.

However, the entry of a Chinese balloon suspected by Washington to be part of a global surveillance programme into US airspace prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to Beijing that was meant to set up another Biden-Xi meeting.

China's Washington embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on a possible call between the two leaders.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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