Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky spoke by phone in the afternoon of April 26. On the evening of April 26, Professor Da Wei, director of Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy and vice chair of China Forum, attended a briefing for Chinese and foreign media at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the conversation between the Chinese and Ukrainian leaders and answered questions.

The first phone call between the two heads of state reflected the importance China attaches to the development of the bilateral relations and its constant efforts to promote peaceful resolution to the Ukraine crisis. Yu Jun, deputy director of the Department of Eurasia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefed the media on the background, significance and follow-up of the phone call. In the Q&A session, Professor Da Wei said that Western countries have portrayed the crisis as a confrontation between two blocs and tried to simply place China in one of them, which has led to difficulties in communication among the concerned parties. China has nevertheless maintained friendly communication with both sides of the conflict, which is the only major power that is able to achieve that. China is committed to promoting negotiations and peace resolution to this crisis, and the international community also expects it to play a bigger role in the process.