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By Gabe Whisnant
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As Chinese President Xi Jinping headed to the U.S. for a highly anticipated meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used his U.N. General Assembly speech on Wednesday to publicly urge Beijing to help bring Russia's war to an end.
"He is someone who can influence Russia more than many others can," Zelensky said of Xi, adding that Ukraine hopes the Chinese leader "want[s] peace as much as we do."
The remarks underscored Kyiv's view that China remains one of the few major powers capable of exerting meaningful pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin after nearly five years of war.
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When reached for comment via email, a White House official told Newsweek that Trump remains committed to securing an end to the war and believes a peace agreement is still achievable. The official added that the administration continues to engage with both Moscow and Kyiv and views the United States as playing a constructive role in efforts to broker a settlement.
Beijing Faces Questions Over Support for Moscow
China has portrayed itself as neutral in Russia's war against Ukraine. But it has echoed the Kremlin narrative blaming the conflict on NATO expansion while deepening diplomatic and economic ties with Moscow, including becoming a major buyer of Russian oil and gas in defiance of a U.S.-led sanctions regime.
The United States, European Union (EU) and other allies of Kyiv have long accused Beijing of helping sustain Russia's war effort through trade and exports of dual-use goods.
NATO has called Beijing the “decisive enabler” of Russia’s ability to keep the war going.
When it comes to China's official line on Russia's invasion, Beijing says its position has been consistent.
“We neither fuel the flames, nor seek profit from the crisis, and will never accept blame-shifting,” Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., told Newsweek in February.
“China will continue to play a constructive role in its own way to ease the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.”
China has also rejected claims by the European Union that the Chinese military had trained Russian personnel who later fought in Ukraine.
"The remarks have no factual basis and are purely slander and smears," ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters in June.
Zelensky Urges World Leaders to Hit Russia's Finances
Zelensky, who held talks with Trump on Tuesday during the U.N. gathering, spent a significant portion of his General Assembly speech urging countries to tighten sanctions and curb Russia's capacity to finance the war.
“Russia’s revenues must remain a target. When someone gives Russia more money through trade, they give this war more time. And that is exactly why we insist on limiting trade with the aggressor, and why we are burning Russia’s revenues ourselves,” he said.
Last week, Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, a bipartisan measure named in honor of the late South Carolina Republican, who first proposed the legislation nearly 18 months ago. The law expands sanctions on Russian banks, government officials and Moscow's shadow tanker fleet, while authorizing tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that continue purchasing large volumes of Russian oil and gas.
Trump said Tuesday he is confident Russia and Ukraine will eventually reach a peace deal, telling reporters, "We're going to make a deal." The president, who promised during his 2024 campaign to end the war, has yet to secure a settlement, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he remains optimistic about the prospects for peace.
“Sometimes, it may seem that Ukraine is focused, focused, only on war because we speak about weapons, we speak about defense and sanctions against the aggressor. But Ukrainians did not choose this war,” he told the assembly on Wednesday. “We choose not to die. …. We are defending ourselves.”
Zelensky referred to Putin as "Patient Zero" in Russia's war with Ukraine.
“Something always seems to stop Putin from saying, ‘That’s it. Enough, Peace,’” Zelensky said. “Can you even imagine him without war? He is ‘Patient Zero’, the one from whom war keeps spreading further. ... ‘Patient Zero’ must be stopped."
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Russia-Ukraine Death Toll: What to Know
Zelensky's comments came as Ukrainian commanders reported gains from a counteroffensive in the Donetsk region, which they said had undermined Russia's push to capture more territory in the eastern Donbas.
However, Putin continues to push the line that he is winning the war, shaped by reports of exaggerated accounts from his generals about battlefield gains, while he refuses to back down from his maximalist war goals during talks with Trump administration officials.
Russia has suffered 1,460,400 casualties since the invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, Ukraine's military said last month. The tally includes soldiers slain in the conflict, as well as troops who were injured. Many will have returned to the front lines or been repeatedly wounded.
Moscow has taken up to 450,000 battlefield deaths since the start of the war, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank said last month.
Ukraine's likely casualty count is around 625,000, including up to 150,000 people killed, for the same period, according to CSIS.
Neither country releases its casualty totals.
Beyond the battlefield, the war has disrupted global fuel, fertilizer and grain markets, while accelerating a broader geopolitical rift between Russia and Western nations.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Saturday. Speaking before the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, Lavrov said Moscow would not agree to a pause in the war, arguing that a ceasefire would give Ukraine time to replenish its weapons stockpiles, though he said Russia remains open to broader peace negotiations.
Warning that Ukrainians could face another difficult season of Russian missile and drone attacks, Zelensky said Kyiv would seek to ensure Moscow feels the effects of the conflict as well.
"Ukrainians understand that this winter could be very harsh for us, but in response we will have no choice but to make it harsh for Russia too."
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