KYIV: Ukraine’s top diplomat held more than three hours of talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the city of Guangzhou on Wednesday on what Kyiv has described as a multi-day trip to discuss ways to achieve a “fair peace” in the war with Russia.

Dmytro Kuleba is the highest ranking Ukrainian official to visit China since Russia’s full-scale February 2022 invasion, which Beijing has not publicly condemned.

“The talks have just concluded. They lasted for over three hours in total, longer than planned. This was a very deep and concrete conversation,” a Ukrainian source in the delegation told Reuters.

Kyiv urges ‘direct dialogue’ with China on Ukraine peace

Kuleba said in initial remarks at the meeting that he expected “thorough and substantive talks on bilateral relations, the international agenda and, most importantly, the path to peace.”

“I am convinced that a just peace in Ukraine is in China’s strategic interests, and China’s role as a global force for peace is important.”