NATO and Luxembourg Thursday welcomed a phone call between Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelensky and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, their first contact since Russian invaded Ukraine last year in February.
“I welcome the call between President Zelenskyy and President Xi. I think is important also that China gets a better understanding of the Ukrainian perspectives,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a joint press conference with Prime Minister Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg at NATO Headquarters in Brussels today.
“This doesn’t change the fact that China has not been able to condemn Russia’s illegal war, illegal invasion of Ukraine, and NATO Allies have expressed strong support to President Zelenskyy’s peace plan, which includes, of course, full respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” he added.
On his part, Bettel said “I think that the phone call that took place yesterday is the first step. I think it’s going in the right direction. It’s all about dialogue between Ukraine and a world power.” “We know that China is a key player. Sometimes it’s not that easy to have dialogue with China, but it’s important, and I think that the biggest mistake that we could make is to push China closer to Moscow.
So the phone call that was completed yesterday, between them is key in my opinion,” he said.
“But I think this first exchange was an important one, and I hope it’s not a one off. I hope that they plan to talk more, having more exchanges, you know, having a diplomatic representation, and so on.
And I think that intensifying their relations, enhancing their relations, is a positive step forward, and we have to support them on that,” added the PM of Luxembourg.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the press conference, Stoltenberg said at the NATO Vilnius Summit in July, NATO plans to step up for Ukraine with a multi-year programme of support.
He noted that NATO states and partners have provided unprecedented support to Ukraine.
“More than 98 percent of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine have already been delivered.
That means over 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks and other equipment, including vast amounts of ammunition,” he said.
“In total we have trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian armored brigades.
This will put Ukraine in a strong position to continue to retake occupied territory,” added the NATO chief.
Source: Kuwait News Agency