The trip will be Kuleba's first visit to China since the invasion of Ukraine, and its purpose is to develop bilateral relations as well as to discuss ways to end the war by reaching a "sustainable and just" settlement with Russia.

"The main topic of the discussion will be the search for ways to stop the Russian aggression and China's possible role in achieving a sustainable and just peace," Ukraine's foreign ministry said in its last-minute press release on Monday, July 22nd. Kuleba's trip will take place in the following days, between July 23-25th.

Relations between Beijing and Kyiv have deteriorated rapidly following the Russian invasion in February 2022, as both Ukraine and the West have been consistently accusing China of covertly helping the Russian war effort by supplying it with sanctioned "dual-use" items that can be used as military equipment.

Just weeks ago, President Zelensky criticized Beijing again for "sabotaging" his efforts toward ending the war by boycotting the most recent "peace conference" in Switzerland in protest of the fact that Kyiv didn't invite Moscow.

Nonetheless, it seems Ukraine's attitudes are slowly changing toward what peace might look like and how to achieve it. Zelensky recently announced that he is now ready to invite representatives of the Kremlin to the next peace summit which would ideally take place before the end of the year. Kuleba's trip to Beijing, therefore, no doubt serves as a preparation for those later talks as China is seen as possibly the most effective mediator if the Western powers finally decide to view it as a partner in negotiations.

This was also one of the main conclusions of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who ended his "peace mission" early last week after meeting leaders on both sides of the conflict to gauge what conditions need to be achieved for a possible ceasefire agreement to avoid further unnecessary bloodshed and the future risk of global escalation.