Ukraine's Foreign Ministry Confirms No Chinese Participation in Malta Meeting

China has not been present at the meeting of national security and foreign policy advisers held in Malta, but Ukraine is seeking to host a Global Peace Summit of world leaders this year.

According to Reuters, Mykola Tochytskyi, Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister, confirmed that China was not present at the meeting in Malta, despite Ukraine's efforts to have Beijing send a representative.

"The reasons are not known to me, as far as I can remember in Jeddah the Chinese representative, Li Hui, said he was planning to attend," the official said.

The diplomat said Ukraine has an open-door policy for China or any other country to participate in future summits.

Kyiv is still striving to hold a peace summit by the end of this year.

"This aim remains necessary and possible ... it has been demonstrated that there is interest in this," Deputy Minister Mykola Tochytskyi said shortly after the advisers' meetings in Malta.

The official added that heads of states and governments will attend the meeting.

The Ukrainian President's Office reported that representatives from 66 countries attended the meeting in Malta on Saturday and Sunday in person or via the Internet, which is 20 more than at the last such meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in August this year.

Tochytskyi said the meeting in Malta discussed five points of the 10-point formula proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last year: nuclear, food and power security, the liberation of prisoners of war and deportees, and restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity.

The deputy minister noted that Ukraine's efforts to engage the Global South are not affected by different positions on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, although this may hinder the focus on Ukraine.

The third meeting of national security and foreign policy advisers held in Malta reportedly included a discussion of holding a Global Peace Summit at the level of heads of states and governments.