UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR Zelenskyy today said he was planning to meet China’s Xi Jinping after Beijing called for urgent peace talks to end the war in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy also said he was doing his best to prevent Chinese arms supplies to Russia to avoid any risk of “World War III.”

“I am planning to meet with Xi Jinping,” he told reporters as Ukraine marked the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

“This will be important for world security,” he said.

Zelenskyy did not say when or where he was planning to meet Xi but expressed hope that China would support a “just peace” and Ukraine.

“I really want to believe that China will not supply weapons to Russia. It is very important for me,” Zelenskyy said.

Earlier today China called for urgent peace talks as it released a plan to end the war in Ukraine.

A 12-point paper issued by China’s Foreign Ministry urged an end to sanctions that aim to squeeze Russia’s economy.

Several Western powers rebuffed the proposals and also warned against Beijing’s close ties to Moscow.

Zelenskyy also said today he was convinced that only a country whose territory is under attack can initiate “any peace initiatives.”

Beijing has sought to position itself as a neutral party in the conflict, while maintaining close ties with strategic ally Russia.

‘Stop bombing us’

Meanwhile, the president of Ukraine used a news conference on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion to urge Moscow to change course, saying: “Please respect our right to live on our land. Leave our territory. Stop bombing us.”

Breaking with his office’s usual wartime security protocols, Zelenskyy’s news conference was broadcast live today

Zelenskyy got emotional when talking about how the war could end, arguing that only if Russia halts its aggression can a diplomatic path be followed.

“Stop (destroying) all our infrastructure, energy, drinking water. Stop bombing towns, villages, killing dogs and cats, simply animals, torching forests,” he said.

However, Zelenskyy kicked off the day with an early morning tweet that promised: “We know that 2023 will be the year of our victory.”

On February 24, millions of us made a choice. Not a white flag, but the blue and yellow one. Not fleeing, but facing. Resisting & fighting.
It was a year of pain, sorrow, faith, and unity. And this year, we remained invincible. We know that 2023 will be the year of our victory! pic.twitter.com/oInWvssjOI

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 24, 2023

He followed that up with his video address in which he also pledged not to abandon Ukrainians living under Russian occupation, vowing: “One way or another, we will liberate all our lands.”

Zelenskyy said one of his biggest disappointments of the war had been to see people who could have fought leave the country when Russia invaded, referring to officials who fled.

He said a low point was when Russian atrocities were discovered in the recaptured town of Bucha near Kyiv.

“It was very scary,” he said. “We saw that the devil is not somewhere out there, but on Earth.”

Earlier today, the Ukrainian leader addressed troops on a Kyiv square and handed out honours, including to the widow and daughter of a fallen soldier, telling them: “We will never forget.”

In a Kyiv hospital, he also decorated wounded fighters.

A year on, casualty figures are horrific on both sides, although Moscow and Kyiv keep precise numbers under wraps. Western estimates suggest hundreds of thousands of killed and wounded.

- © AFP 2023 and with additional reporting from Press Association