The Ukrainian government has been showing an increased willingness to get to the negotiating table to end the war, with the latest development being a trip by the country’s top diplomat to China to explore avenues forward. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, and communicated in a statement that “I am convinced that a just peace in Ukraine is in China’s strategic interests.”

“China’s role as a global force for peace is important,” he emphasized, while also stipulating that Kiev will only engage Moscow when Putin is “ready to negotiate in good faith.” However, he added that “No such readiness is currently observed on the Russian side.” This marks the first such trip of Ukraine’s foreign minister to China since the war began in February 2022.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Source: Xinhua 

Wang in a readout said that Russia and Ukraine had each “sent signals of their willingness to negotiate to varying degrees.”

From Ukraine’s perspective, China alone is a powerful enough external actor which possesses enough influence with Moscow to get it to end the invasion. For Beijing, this is an opportunity to show itself a crucial counterweight to the United States on the world stage in dealing with intractable conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement continued in follow-up to Wang’s comments, saying, “Of course, the negotiations should be rational and substantive, aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace.”

Wang had in the meeting warned the Ukrainian diplomat that there is the “risk of escalation and spillover” of the conflict, adding that “China believes that the resolution of all conflicts must eventually return to the negotiation table.”

Last week, President Zelensky issued a surprise reversal, saying that a second Ukraine peace summit should include Russian representation. “I believe that Russian representatives should be at the second summit,” Zelensky told a press conference in Kiev on July 15 while outlining preparatory work for another summit.

The first “Summit on Peace in Ukraine at the Bürgenstock” in Switzerland in mid-June importantly did not have either Russian or Chinese participation. While Beijing had been invited, Russia was not, and the Chinese government cited this as a reason it found the whole endeavor futile.

China has been busy presenting itself as peacemaker while condemning ‘hegemonic’ Washington…

China 🇨🇳 just brokered a historic unity pledge with Palestinian leaders.

Ukraine is requesting China mediate peace with Russia.

China brokered peace between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

While the U.S. fuels genocide and endless war, China is showing its a peace making super power. pic.twitter.com/uHq4RJOJLO

— Danny Haiphong (@SpiritofHo) July 24, 2024

In addition to China, the Vatican is also this week calling for some very real talk regarding the war. According to a readout from the Vatican as quoted in Russian media: 

The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, believes that the Ukrainian conflict is still far from being settled and that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s proposed peace formula is not sufficient, the Cardinal said on Wednesday in an interview with Italian daily Avvenire…

“It seems to me that we are still far away from the resolution [of the conflict],” he said. “We have President Zelensky’s peace proposal, which the Holy See supported immediately, particularly in the sphere of humanitarian issues.”

“It represents an attempt to find peace, although it has gaps in the sense of not involving Russia. This plan can help, but it is not sufficient,” he continued. “I hope other formulae can be found to pave the way for the talks.”

It remains that Kiev has been unwilling to budge on the idea of making territorial concessions. At the same time, Russia is unwilling to give up the four eastern territories it previously annexed, declaring them part of the Russian Federation after a referendum last year.

But this month has included a series of openings and unprecedented signaling coming from Kiev for the first time. This as both Ukraine is in a desperate situation on the battlefield and as it is bracing for a likely future Trump administration in the US.