Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President, has expressed her support for using Kyiv's "peace plan" as the starting point for any efforts to end the Russian-Ukrainian war.

As reported by Reuters, von der Leyen's statement on the Ukrainian peace plan coincided with the visit of a top Chinese representative to several European capitals, which Beijing has described as aiming for a "political settlement" of the conflict in Ukraine.

"Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. We should never forget that Ukraine is the country that was brutally invaded. It's therefore the one that should set out the core principles for just peace," said the European Commission President.

While she said it was "very good" that Chinese President Xi Jinping had held a phone call with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, she stressed Beijing should use its influence on Moscow to end the war.

The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, recently expressed the opinion that China has already lost the opportunity (Ukr) to act as a mediator in Russia's conflict resolution.