Ukraine's foreign minister is set to visit China this week, apparently to push Beijing to engage more in his country's efforts to realize its peace plan amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine's foreign ministry announced on Monday that Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit China from Tuesday through Thursday, at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

The announcement says that the "main topic of discussion will be the search for ways to stop Russian aggression and China's possible role in achieving a sustainable and just peace."

It is believed that this will be Kuleba's first visit to China since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began.

Western countries see China as having closer ties with Russia. China was absent from the international conference on peace in Ukraine in June.

China apparently sides with Russia over how to bring the conflict in Ukraine to an end. Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban this month, said an "early ceasefire and a political settlement are in the interests of all parties."

Ukraine plans to hold a second peace summit by the end of this year in a bid to rally the international community behind its peace plan. Kuleba is expected to ask China to attend the summit and engage more in the Ukraine-led peace process.