Ukraine confirms President Zelensky 'has no plans to visit China' for Beijing Olympics

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has no plans to visit China for Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 opening ceremony scheduled to take place on 4 February. Citing RBC-Ukraine, Sputnik reported that Zelensky’s spokesperson Sergey Nikiforov said that presently the Ukrainian President’s calendar has “no visit to China”. Nikiforov also revealed that in the coming few days Zelensky has meetings lined up with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Nikiforov was quoted as saying, “At present, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's calendar has no visit to China. Within the next few days the President has planned meetings with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”

Meanwhile, amid ongoing tensions with Russia on the Ukrainian border, Kremlin last week did not rule out the possibility of talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky if the Ukrainian leader attends the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. Even though he said that Zelensky presently has no plans to visit the Asian country, Nikiforov added, “At the same time, we welcome the fact that Kremlin has finally begun to realize that there's no alternative to direct contacts, and has begun to talk about a bilateral meeting of presidents”.

China is set to host Beijing Olympics 2022 when tensions between Russia and Ukraine have worsened especially in the past few weeks. While Moscow has ramped up its troops along its border with Ukraine, the United States and NATO have alleged that Russia is planning a full-fledged military action on the former Soviet Union member. Russia, however, has denied all allegations by the West and has reiterated that amassing of troops near its border with Ukraine is for its own security. Russia has also called for precluding further eastward expansion of NATO but the US and the defence alliance have upheld the country’s right to join organisations. 

Ukraine urges Russia to pull back troops if 'serious about de-escalation’

 on Russia to pull back its troops from a former Soviet Union member’s border and continue dialogue with the west if it is “serious” about de-escalating tensions and soaring fears of Moscow’s invasion. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba took to Twitter on 30 January and suggested that if Russian officials are “serious” about calming the situation near the border and “don’t want a new war”, Moscow must continue diplomatic engagement while pulling back troops. 

Kuleba said, “If Russian officials are serious when they say they don’t want a new war, Russia must continue diplomatic engagement and pull back military forces it amassed along Ukraine’s borders and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Diplomacy is the only responsible way.”

(Image: AP)