Andrzej Duda will aim to persuade Xi Jinping and Guterres to help bring about diplomatic talks between Kyiv and Moscow, Poland's PAP news agency reported on Wednesday.
The Polish president is set to travel to Beijing to attend Friday’s opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, according to officials.
He will use the opportunity to discuss the situation around Ukraine, the Polish state news agency reported, citing sources close to the presidential office.
Duda and Xi Jinping are due to meet for talks at the weekend.
While in Beijing, the Polish president is also expected to meet with the head of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach.
An official at the Polish presidential palace was quoted as saying that one of the aims of Duda’s visit to China was "to search for someone who could potentially play a negotiating role between Ukraine and Russia, give Russian President Vladimir Putin a face-saving way out of this conflict, and end it in a peaceful manner."
The official said, as quoted by the PAP news agency: “In our view, the West must not give in to Putin’s demands, but we are aware that things have gone too far and Putin must somehow save his face.”
“We need a partner from outside NATO, from outside the Western world, to assume such a role,” the official told PAP, adding that "the task is to bring about Ukrainian-Russian talks without condemning Russia.”
Xi Jinping, Guterres and Bach will all be encouraged to play such a “peace-making” role, according to the official, who was not named by PAP.
The official also said that “China is a superpower in trade and isn't interested in a destabilisation of Eastern Europe, as it would harm its economic interests,” according to PAP.
Russia's military buildup near Ukraine has in recent weeks raised fears in the West that Moscow may be preparing for a new invasion of the country.
Moscow has denied plans for an assault but says it could take unspecified military action if its security demands are not met, the Reuters news agency has reported.
Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and then fomented a separatist conflict in that country's eastern Donbas region, leading to a wave of EU and US sanctions against Moscow and Russian officials.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP