KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a "long and meaningful" phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday -- the first between the two leaders since the start of Russia's invasion.

"I had a long and meaningful phone call with President Xi Jinping," Zelenskyy said on Twitter.

"I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine's ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations," he wrote.

Zelenskyy's spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov said on Facebook that the two had "an almost one hour-long telephone conversation."