Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held talks Wednesday with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in the southern economic hub of Guangzhou.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Kuleba and Wang agreed that negotiations are necessary to end Russia’s two-and-a-half-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

Mao said although the conditions are not evident, China supports “all efforts that contribute to peace” and is willing “to continue to play a constructive role for a cease-fire and the resumption of peace talks.”

Kuleba is the most senior Ukrainian official to visit China since the invasion began in February of 2022. The talks are being held amid tensions between Kyiv and Beijing over China’s close diplomatic and economic ties with Russia, despite Beijing’s claim it is a neutral party in the conflict.

Ukraine has signaled it would like China to attend a second international summit to be held later this year focusing on a potential peace plan offered by Kyiv. Neither China nor Russia was invited to the initial gathering in Switzerland back in June, after China and Brazil published a separate six-point peace plan.

Kuleba has said the parties “must avoid competition between peace plans.”