Ukraine's FM Kuleba to pay visit

China has announced that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit China from Tuesday to Friday, the first such trip since the Ukraine conflict broke out in 2022.

The four-day tour is at the invitation of Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who met with his Ukrainian counterpart three times and had two phone calls with him since the conflict began. This is also Kuleba's first visit to China since assuming office in 2020.

According to Ukraine's foreign ministry, the main topic of discussion would be the search for ways to end the conflict and China's possible role in achieving sustainable and just peace.

As the Ukraine conflict has entered its third year, analysts said the visit sends a signal that Ukraine is seeking negotiation and international support to resolve the conflict.

"China, not a creator or a party to the Ukraine issue, has committed itself to the political settlement of the crisis from the very beginning and has played a constructive role in promoting talks for peace," said Li Ziguo, director of the Department for European-Central Asian Studies under the China Institute of International Studies.

"China's approaches have proved to be practical and reliable solutions to the Ukraine issue," Li added.

So far, China has launched three rounds of shuttle diplomacy to promote peace talks and defuse the crisis.

China and Brazil issued in May a six-point common understanding on political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. Kuleba's visit comes close on the heels of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's visit to Beijing on July 8, when China and Hungary, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, exchanged in-depth views in an effort to promote the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.