China’s Foreign Ministry and state media portrayed dictator Xi Jinping’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday as a sweeping diplomatic triumph, with Zelensky practically begging Beijing to take a leading role in negotiations to end the Russian invasion.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday that Xi offered reassurances that China still values its “strategic partnership” with Ukraine, a top trading partner and client of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), even though China’s close friends in Moscow are attempting to erase Ukraine from the map.