China replaces key envoy dealing with Ukraine war
Sun Linjiang, formerly China's ambassador to Poland, has been appointed special representative for Eurasian affairs, Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.
He replaces Li Hui, who conducted shuttle diplomacy in Europe and elsewhere aimed at finding a political settlement to the war in Ukraine as China sought to paint itself as a mediator in the conflict.
China has declared itself a neutral party in the more than three-year conflict, although Western governments say Beijing has given Moscow crucial economic and diplomatic support -- a result of their close ties.
China has countered by saying the United States and other Western countries are fuelling the war by arming Ukraine.
Multiple rounds of diplomatic pushes by Li failed to produce any substantive outcomes, with the official last year admitting there was a "significant gap" between Kyiv and Moscow on the prospect of peace talks, following a trip to Russia, Ukraine and EU states.
His replacement Sun "is a senior diplomat who knows the situation in the Eurasian region well", Lin said Thursday.
Sun would "make unremitting efforts to deepen the traditional friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and countries in the Eurasian region", the spokesman said.
German defence minister in Kyiv on visit
Berlin (AFP) June 12, 2025 -
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv on Thursday, a spokesman in his ministry told AFP, a visit that comes as Russia escalates its bombardments of Ukraine.
The spokesman did not provide details on the visit, which started a day after Russian strikes on Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv killed three people and wounded 60 others.
This was Pistorius's first trip to Ukraine since German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office. Pistorius last visited Ukraine in January.
On Tuesday, Merz slammed Russian "terror against the civilian population" in Ukraine after Moscow escalated its bombardments.
He said Russia's latest actions were "anything but a proportionate response to the very precise Ukrainian attacks on military airfields and infrastructure in the last week".
Merz's comments come ahead of a G7 summit in Canada on June 15-17 and a NATO meeting later in the month, where allies will push US President Donald Trump to be more aggressive in punishing the Kremlin.
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