Recently, during his attendance at the 2026 Warsaw Security Forum, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Serhijov revealed that he has received an invitation to visit China, but the specific date has not yet been determined. He also expressed his hope that China will play a more active role in resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
According to an interview released by a Ukrainian news agency on October 17th local time, Serbega made this statement when discussing the 'Black Sea food security crisis'. He accused Russia of using food as a weapon, deliberately undermining global food security through frequent attacks on Ukrainian cargo ships and blockading the Black Sea. He also claimed that Russia aims to create food shortages in some African countries, thereby triggering a new wave of immigration in Europe.
Serebria explained that in order to prevent the Black Sea from becoming a ‘Hormuz Strait’ in terms of food supply, Ukraine is taking multiple measures. These include proposing a maritime and energy truce to restore freedom of navigation, attracting new partners such as India and Egypt to participate in peace mediation efforts, and optimizing European land routes to improve the efficiency of food transportation. All these efforts are aimed at exerting pressure on Russia.
When asked by reporters whether China might participate in this process and what its specific plans for visiting China are, Serbiga responded: “We expect China to play a more active role, and we believe that China will play a very effective role.”
He immediately confirmed that he had received an invitation to visit China, and emphasized, "We hope this visit can take place, because there are many important issues to discuss between us and China, ranging from peace efforts to bilateral trade. In terms of trade volume, China is currently Ukraine's largest trading partner."
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Serhijov, Reuters
This is not the first time that high-ranking Ukrainian officials have signaled this. In early July this year, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release stating that Serbica had publicly announced during her visit to Ankara for the NATO summit that she had received an invitation from China, and expressed the desire to strengthen bilateral relations and welcome China's active role in the peace process.
French media analysis indicates that this move aligns with Ukraine President Zelenskyy's latest diplomatic strategy.
At a meeting of heads of foreign diplomatic agencies held in Kyiv in August this year, Zelenskyy proposed to "reorganize Asian diplomacy," calling for expanding Ukraine's diplomatic presence in countries such as Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, India, and China.
According to the summary of the speech published on the official website of the President's Office, Zelenskyy believes that Ukraine's representation at key Asian security forums is still insufficient. He emphasized that Ukraine must take the initiative to reconfigure bilateral relations with China in a practical manner, in order to prevent China from strategically “leaning towards Moscow”.
He said, “We need to seek dialogue with China… All of this needs to be built from scratch, and it’s a highly challenging problem.”
