Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had a "long and meaningful" phone call Wednesday, their first known contact since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago, and Beijing said it wanted to send an envoy to Kyiv to serve as a mediator to pursue a "political settlement."
The nearly hour-long call came two months after Beijing, which has long been aligned with Russia, said it wanted to act as a mediator and a month after Xi visited Moscow. The timing was also relevant because it comes as Ukraine is readying its forces for an expected spring counteroffensive.
