China Ukraine envoy urges governments to ‘stop sending weapons to the battlefield,’ negotiate peace

By JOE McDONALD
Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Ukraine envoy has appealed to other governments to “stop sending weapons to the battlefield” and hold peace talks but gave no indication his trip to the region made any progress toward a settlement. Li Hui’s appeal comes as Washington and its European allies are ramping up supplies of missiles, tanks and other weapons to Ukrainian forces that are trying to take back Russian-occupied territory. Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government says it is neutral and wants to serve as a mediator but has supported Moscow politically. Li visited Ukraine, Russia, Poland, France, Germany and the European Union headquarters. China’s initiative gives Beijing an opportunity to expand its global diplomatic role, but political analysts saw little chance it would make progress.