Premier meets leader of Ukraine

Poroshenko says he hopes Beijing will play an active role in political solution

In the highest level meeting between China and Ukraine since conflict escalated in the eastern European country last year, Premier Li Keqiang voiced support on Wednesday for the adoption of a development path based on Ukraine's national conditions.

China will continue to carry out pragmatic cooperation with Ukraine on the basis of mutual benefits, Li told Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, which is underway in Davos, Switzerland.

Poroshenko told Li that his government attaches great importance to relations with China and hopes to maintain cooperation, and that he hopes Beijing will play a more active role in the political settlement of the Ukraine issue.

The meeting came shortly before Poroshenko cut short his trip to deal with a resource-draining armed conflict while fending off economic collapse.

Experts said Kiev is eager to win international backing for its efforts to settle the conflict and save its economy, and China maybe one of the first countries to which it will turn for support, both politically and economically.

Gao Fei, a professor of diplomacy studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said Li's remarks about the development path touched on a key factor in Ukraine's instability. Its swinging between West and East is not suitable but only escalates tensions, he said.

"I think Ukraine should take a relatively neutral stance between the West and the East, becoming a bridge spanning both and putting development as its top priority," Gao said.

China was once a leading buyer of Ukraine's most competitive products, especially in the agricultural sector, and the Asian economic powerhouse could still play a role in Ukraine's post-conflict development, he said.

Li said peace is the common aspiration of people around the world, as are development and cooperation, which are superior to poverty and confrontation.

Beijing has an objective position on the Ukraine issue, Li said, adding that it stands for a political settlement and will continue to play an active and constructive role in such efforts.

Late on Wednesday, diplomatic progress was made on the crisis during talks involving Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine. An agreement was reached on establishing security zones between pro-Russian fighters and Kiev's forces, Reuters reported.

Ukraine has asked the International Monetary Fund for a new and broader rescue pack-age, and hopes to renegotiate its debt with bond holders, officials said on Wednesday.

The IMF granted Kiev $17 billion in financial aid over two years as part of a broader $27 billion global rescue pack-age last year.

Contact the writer at zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn