Today, Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Political Director of the European External Action Service, Enrique Mora, received the Special Envoy of the Chinese Government for Eurasian Affairs, Li Hui, in Brussels.

Deputy Secretary-General Mora welcomed Special Envoy Li’s visit to Europe, especially to Kyiv, and China’s recent engagement with Ukraine, including at Leaders’ level, although it comes more than one year after the start of the illegal Russian aggression.

The two sides discussed Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and ways to promote a just and sustainable peace. Deputy Secretary-General Mora stressed Russia’s full responsibility for the unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine, posing a key challenge to regional and global stability, security and prosperity. He highlighted that Ukraine was exercising its right to self-defence and that the European Union was committed to supporting Ukraine in the long term.

The Deputy Secretary-General stressed that restoring a just and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with international law is of vital importance for the EU. He underlined that any meaningful way to end Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine must be consistent with the UN Charter in its entirety.

The EU expects China, as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council, to play a constructive role and to use every occasion to uphold and promote the UN Charter and international law, and to recall the necessity to respect the principles of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and to stop the bloodshed and indiscriminate targeting of civilians by immediately and unconditionally withdrawing all forces and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders.  

Both sides agreed to remain in touch and to continue working towards a sustainable peace in Ukraine.