Ukraine: Ukraine is looking for a chance to speak "directly" with China about its ongoing conflict with Russia, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, noting that his country had consistently sought close ties with Beijing in the years leading up to the conflict. In an exclusive interview with the Post, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urged the Asian superpower to use its enormous political and economic influence over Russia to put an end to the fighting.
"It's a very strong state." It has a strong economy... As a result, it has political and economic clout in Russia. "China is also a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council," Zelensky added. His 40-minute Zoom interview was his first with an Asian media outlet since Russia invaded his country on February 24.
According to the United Nations Human Rights Office, at least 5,327 people have been killed and 7,257 have been injured since the attack.
I'd like to speak with you directly. "I only had one conversation with [President] Xi Jinping a year ago," he explained. "Since the start of the large-scale aggression on February 24, we have asked for an official conversation, but we (haven't) had any conversation with China, even though I believe that would be beneficial." While he hoped China would take a different approach to the conflict – the country has so far refrained from blaming its key economic partner Russia for the invasion – Zelensky said he had always wanted "the relationship between Ukraine and China to be reinforced and developed every year."
Last year, the two countries celebrated three decades of formal bilateral ties. According to figures from Ukraine's embassy in China, China was Ukraine's top trading partner in 2021, with a trade turnover of nearly US$19 billion.
According to Zelensky, Xi is one of the few world leaders who has visited Ukraine "at least once," and the Chinese leader warmly recalled his ties with the eastern European country during a phone call last year.
The Ukrainian president said he understood China's desire to maintain a "balanced" approach to the war, but it was important to remember that the conflict was precipitated by Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukrainian sovereign territory. "The invaders are the Russians... this is a war on our territory, and they came to invade." "As a large and powerful country, China could come down and sort of put the Russian Federation [in] a certain place," he said. "Of course, I would like China to reconsider its stance toward the Russian Federation." Zelensky, 44, believes China and Ukraine share values such as a love of family and children. "Everyone adores their children. "Everyone wants to live in peace and stability," he explained.
Since the beginning of the conflict, Zelensky has used social media and appeared in dozens of media interviews to put pressure on the international community, particularly Western nations, to provide more assistance to Ukraine. Russia and President Vladimir Putin have become pariahs in the eyes of the West and key Asian partners, despite Moscow's insistence that the invasion was justified because Kyiv was allegedly mistreating Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine. Despite Western condemnations, Russia's envoy in Singapore, Nikolay Kudashev, told the Post earlier this week that Moscow's status in Asia remained unshaken and "snow-white," adding that efforts to isolate his country had failed.
China, like India, has refrained from taking sides in the conflict. According to a database compiled by Germany's Kiel Institute for the World Economy, it has pledged $2.37 million in aid to Ukraine since the war began. Officials in Beijing have suggested that the West played a significant role in instilling hostility toward Russia in Ukraine, precipitating the war. In the interview, Zelensky urged China to use its UN Security Council membership to "show" other countries that they must adhere to international norms. "If we operate without legislation, why should we have the Security Council at all if any country... or several countries in the world can simply decide to violate the rules militarily?" he asked.
During the interview, the Ukrainian leader also reiterated his recent warning about the war's long-term implications for global food and energy security. According to Zelensky, countries spending more on food, fuel, and defence in the aftermath of the conflict may have a negative impact on Chinese exports. "People would have to pay for energy resources rather than Chinese products... China's exports would be declining. "That is 100%," he stated. When asked if he would welcome Chinese assistance in rebuilding his war-torn country, Zelensky said he hoped "China, Chinese businesses," and "the entire world" would contribute.
"I really want the entire world to [come together] over this process." "It will be extremely difficult for us to overcome this," Zelensky said, adding that Russian missile attacks had decimated infrastructure in many cities
The Ukrainian president also addressed speculation that Moscow, which is currently facing heavy Western sanctions in a variety of sectors, is sourcing semiconductors from Asian countries outside the diplomatic ambit of the West in order to manufacture weapons. Following the invasion, the world's largest chipmakers cut off deliveries to Russia, which had previously relied on Asian and Western semiconductor imports. According to Zelensky, Ukraine's intelligence services are "as effective as in China," and his administration is well aware of which countries Moscow has approached for assistance in this regard.
Nonetheless, the president stated that he does not wish to point fingers at these governments, but rather to focus on uniting them against Russia. "I'd like to focus on uniting the entire world against Russian tyranny, rather than... undermining unity by claiming that one country is assisting while the other is not," he said.
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