UKRAINE’S foreign minister is set to visit China in late July, the Chinese announced today.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters that Dmytro Kuleba has accepted an invitation from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Beijing from July 23 to 26 for talks on how to bring the conflict with Russia to an end.

This followed remarks on Sunday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky where he indicated that he was ready for negotiations with Russia. This is the first time he has shown a willingness to hold negotiations with Russia since a potential peace deal was blocked after a visit to Kiev by the then British prime minister Boris Johnson in the early months of the invasion.