Two months after issuing a vague plan for ending the war in Ukraine, China s leader, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday acceded to repeated requests from the Ukrainian president to talk.
Even as Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet for world leaders like Emmanuel Macron, Lula da Silva and Mohammed bin Salman in the recent weeks, it has been only the cold shoulder for the United States.
The two leaders appealed on Thursday for a rapid return to peace talks to end the war in Ukraine. But Mr. Xi did not say if he would use his close relationship with Moscow to push Russia to negotiate.