China has always maintained communication with all sides including Ukraine – foreign ministry

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has always maintained communication with all sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, including Kyiv, a foreign ministry spokesperson told a regular news briefing on Monday.

Mao Ning was answering a question on Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying he would welcome talks with China.

In another question on Zelenskiy saying that he planned to speak to China President Xi Jinping, Mao said “China’s position on the Ukraine crisis is consistent and very clear.”

“The core is to call for peace and promote dialogue and promote a political solution to the crisis. We have always maintained communication with the sides involved including Ukraine,” Mao said.

Zelenskiy said on Friday he plans to meet Xi but did not say when such a meeting might take place.

(Reporting by Martin Pollard; Writing by Bernard Orr; Beijing newsroom; Editing by Tom Hogue)