China doesn't want Ukraine-Russia war to end: Li Qiang refuses to meet Zelenskyy in Davos, latter says 'not on my level'

China has made its intentions on Ukraine pretty clear-Beijing does not want the war with Russia to end. While it did not say that in so many words, but the Chinese side, according to reports, refused to meet Ukraine President Zelenskyy in Davos, Switzerland. The snub comes amid longstanding Ukrainian efforts to somehow have a face-to-face meeting with highly placed Chinese functionaries. Politico reported that while there were several occasions on which such a tete-a-tete could have happened in Davos, the Chinese side was just not interested. The news outlet quoted a US official in the know of things as having said that the meeting got shot down not owing to any scheduling issues, but because Beijing just flatly refused all Kyiv overtures for a sit down. Politico, quoting another US official, attributed the Chinese rebuff to a request from Moscow to cease any and all diplomatic engagements with Ukraine. The news outlet, though, also referred to Ukraine’s version of events. Kyiv maintained that it never sought any sit down with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Zelenskyy, meanwhile, hit back at reports of the Chinese rebuff. The Ukraine president, reportedly, feels that Chinese President Xi Jinping, and not his deputy Li Qiang, is the befitting diplomatic level at which he would want to take things forward. Li Qiang is not at his level, is essentially what Zelenskyy has tried to peddle as a sort of face-saver. “There is a Chinese Premier – then our prime minister will meet with him. I would love to meet with the leader of China. As far as I know, [in China] Xi Jinping makes decisions, and in Ukraine, I make decisions. I don’t need just any dialogues; I need important decisions from the leaders who make these decisions,” Zelenskyy, said according to Russia Today. China-Ukraine relations have frozen since the middle of last year. Since Russia started its invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy and Xi Jinping spoke on the phone last April, while China’s Ukraine envoy visited Kyiv in May.