Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Chinese President Xi Jinping, during a telephone conversation, told him that China would not sell weapons to Russia. The Ukrainian President was speaking at a joint press conference with U.S. President Joe Biden at the G7 summit in Italy. Zelenskyy, however, did not specify when the conversation with the Chinese counterpart took place.
"I had a firm conversation with the leader of China. He said that he will not sell any weapon to Russia. We'll see if he's (a) respectable person he will not, because he gave me (his) word," Zelenskiy said in English, as quoted by news agency Reuters.
As Zelenskyy finished speaking, Biden chimed in and said, "By the way, China is not supplying weapons but the ability to produce those weapons and the technology available to do it, so it is in fact helping Russia," as quoted by Reuters.
The Ukrainian President said that if Kyiv and China had the same views on peace, there could be a dialogue between them and that if Beijing had an alternative view, it could prepare an alternative "peace formula".
The Ukrainian leader has promoted his vision for peace in Ukraine, which he calls his "peace formula". Switzerland is slated to host international delegations from dozens of countries and organisations this weekend at a summit in a bid to bring peace in Ukraine. According to Reuters, the last publicly known phone call between Zelenskiy and Xi was in April 2023, the only such call since Russia's full-scale invasion.
Meanwhile on Thursday, Ukraine and Japan signed a 10-year security agreement on the sidelines of the G7 summit, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, as reported by news agency Reuters. Ukraine has signed 15 other similar agreements pledging long-term support from its allies including Britain, France and Germany.
In a post on X, the Ukrainian President said, "In 2024, Japan will provide Ukraine with $4.5 billion and will continue to support us throughout the agreement's entire 10-year term".