LONDON, March 22 (Reuters) - Ukraine wants China to play a more "noticeable role" in halting the war being waged by Russia on its territory and also to become a future guarantor of its security, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday (Mar 22).

Andriy Yermak, who heads Zelenskyy's office, also said he expected a dialogue "very soon" between Ukraine's leader and Chinese President Xi Jinping, without elaborating.

China, the world's No 2 economy, has long been forging closer energy, trade and security ties with Russia but is also Ukraine's biggest trading partner. It has resisted pressure from Western countries to condemn Russia's invasion.

"So far we've seen China's neutral position. And, as I said before, we believe that China ... should play a more noticeable role in bringing this war to (an) end and in building up a new global security system," Yermak told a virtual news conference organised by the Chatham House think-tank in London.

"We also expect China to contribute meaningfully to this new system of security for Ukraine and we also expect China to be one of the guarantors within the framework of this security system," he said, speaking through an interpreter.

"We treat China with utmost respect and we expect it to play a pro-active role there."