China Denies Pressuring Europe To Accept Russia’s Gains in Ukraine

China on Monday denied a report in The Wall Street Journal that said a senior Chinese diplomat had pressed Western counterparts to accept “an immediate cease-fire” in Ukraine that would leave Russia in control of nearly a fifth of the country.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s top diplomat, downplayed the alleged request over the weekend, assuring the public in a social media post that President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government wouldn’t accept any territorial concessions, according to online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda.

Li Hui, Beijing’s special representative on Eurasian affairs, was dispatched to Europe by Chinese leader Xi Jinping from May 16-26. He completed a six-leg visit that began in Kyiv and ended in Moscow. It followed a long-awaited call last month between Zelensky and Xi and was billed as part of China’s contribution toward ending the year-long war.

Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, dismissed the Journal‘s May 26 report, which said Li urged Western officials in Warsaw, Paris, Berlin, and Brussels to call for a swift end to the fighting. That the result would be a “frozen conflict”—anathema to Ukraine—was apparently implied but may have been left unsaid.

“We explained that freezing the conflict is not in the interest of the international community unless there is withdrawal of Russian troops,” the paper quoted one diplomat who took part in the talks as saying. Another concluded China was “probably testing the unity of the West.”

Mao, who referenced Kuleba’s denial, said Li conveyed Beijing’s position on the conflict and listened to “opinions and advice from various parties” in an effort to find common ground. All parties “express the hope that China will continue to exercise its constructive influence,” she said.

In his message to the Ukrainian public, Kuleba said he contacted European colleagues where Li was received to verify the report.

“None of them confirm that there have been announcements or talks about recognizing the territories, on which the Russian Federation is currently present in Ukraine, as Russian,” he said, per a translation by Pravda.

“I urge you to keep a cool head, rationality, and not to react emotionally to every publication. We control the process, no one will do anything against us behind Ukraine’s back,” Kuleba said, adding that talks involving China would continue on Kyiv’s terms.

Li, whose last post was as envoy to Moscow from 2009-2019, was lauded by Russian officials including its foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, who “thanked the Chinese side for its balanced position on the Ukrainian crisis and praised Beijing’s readiness to play a positive role in its settlement,” his ministry said.

For more than a year, China’s leaders have walked a tightrope when discussing the conflict, which it doesn’t call an invasion and rarely calls a war. While portraying itself as neutral, Beijing has echoed many of Moscow’s grievances about the West and against the United States in particular.

In February, on the eve of the one-year anniversary of President Vladimir Putin’s full and renewed military campaign against Ukraine, the Chinese government published a position paper that urged a cease-fire without requiring the withdrawal of Russian troops.

“All parties should support Russia and Ukraine in working in the same direction and resuming direct dialogue as quickly as possible, so as to gradually deescalate the situation and ultimately reach a comprehensive cease-fire,” said the document, which was largely dismissed by Ukraine’s China skeptics.

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