US officials briefly met Chinese envoy on sidelines of Saudi summit for Ukraine

Senior U.S. officials briefly met with China’s envoy for Europe over the weekend on the sidelines of a summit in Saudi Arabia promoting Russia’s retreat from its war in Ukraine.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan and acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland held a brief meeting with China’s envoy for Eurasia Li Hui, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Monday.

The National Security Council described the meeting as a brief greeting. 

Miller did not address the details of the meeting, but it comes at a time of fraught tensions between the U.S. and China, with military confrontations and diplomatic spats complicating efforts by the Biden administration to standardize communication between Washington and Beijing. 

On Sunday, the State Department criticized as “dangerous” what was described as Chinese naval ships obstructing and blocking Philippine ships in the South China Sea, warning an attack on the Philippine navy would prompt a response from the U.S. 

China’s Foreign Ministry responded by accusing the U.S. of “pulling strings behind the scenes.”

And last week, the U.S. dispatched four U.S. Navy destroyers off the coast of Alaska in a show of force against 11 Russian and Chinese military vessels that were transiting American waters. 

But U.S. officials have encouraged China to exercise a positive influence to help pull back Russia from its war in Ukraine. Chinese President Xi Jinping is the most high-profile world leader to maintain close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the two declaring a “no limits partnership” shortly before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Monday, Miller called China’s participation in the summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, “productive.” 

“We have long said that it would be productive for China to play a role in ending the war in Ukraine, if it was willing to play a role that respected Ukraine’s territorial integrity and Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Miller said. 

He rejected the suggestion that China and the U.S. are at the head of talks about any negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, and he put the blame on Moscow for refusing to “engage in meaningful peace negotiations.” 

“Russia has shown no sign of curtailing its imperialist ambitions or coming to the negotiating table,” Miller said.

“Should there ever be peace negotiations, it’s Ukraine that will be in the lead, from the non-Russian side. The United States is happy to play any role that is productive, to stand with our Ukrainian partners, and we would welcome any other country that wants to play a productive role as well,” he added.

The summit in Saudi Arabia was the second meeting for Ukraine to personally address dozens of countries on its proposals to end Russia’s war. Ukraine is calling for the full retreat of Russian forces from its territory and arguing against freezing the conflict. Ukraine and its backers say a cease-fire would allow Moscow to solidify territorial gains while buying time for it to restock its military.

Miller said the U.S. is working to “convince as many countries as possible … that when this war ends, it should end in a way that respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity, its sovereignty. That’s the point that Ukrainian officials made this weekend, that’s the point that US officials made this weekend and we will continue to press that and try to convince as many countries as possible to take that view of the situation.”