Ukraine presses peace plan, points to N. Korean involvement in talks with Chinese envoy

Senior Ukrainian officials stressed Kyiv’s proposal to resolve the two-year war with Russia and provided what they claimed was proof of North Korean weapons transferred to Moscow at a meeting with a Chinese regional ambassador on Thursday.

The head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, stated on Telegram that he and his group briefed China’s special envoy for Eurasian issues, Li Hui, about the state of events on the battlefield and Kyiv’s peace initiatives.

Yermak said the Ukrainian side “discussed with Li Hui the prospects for establishing a just peace for Ukraine, the restoration of our country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty on the basis of the Ukrainian peace formula”.

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace plan for Ukraine asks for the withdrawal of all Russian forces, the restoration of Ukraine’s post-Soviet boundaries from 1991, and a procedure to hold Russia responsible for its deeds.

A number of preparatory meetings have already been held, and Switzerland has promised to host a summit for peace. China has attended at least one of the talks that Kyiv has been seeking to hold with Beijing, despite the fact that Russia was not invited.

Making his second trip to Europe, Li stated last week that talks about a settlement for Ukraine could not take place without Moscow’s involvement when he met with the deputy foreign minister of Russia in Moscow.

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In his account of Thursday’s talks, Yermak said they showed the Chinese delegation examples of fragments of downed missiles and weapons that North Korea made and gave to Russia to attack Ukraine.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general last month said experts had found that Russia had fired at least 24 North Korean-made missiles over a period of several weeks.

Yermak’s account of the meeting also said Ukraine raised what it described as Russian violations of international conventions on prisoners of war and how China might help secure the return of deported Ukrainian children.

Russia denies such deportations have taken place, saying children were removed from the war zone for their own safety.