China says it seeks ‘constructive role’ in promoting ‘peace talks’ in Ukraine
China has insisted this Friday that it will play a “constructive role” to promote “peace talks” in Ukraine after announcing that its president, Xi Jinping, will visit Russia, while Foreign Minister Qin Gang held a telephone conversation last night with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitro Kuleba. “China will play a constructive role in promoting peace talks,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin insisted today after announcing Xi’s visit to Russia.
Wang stressed that it will be “a peace visit” during which Beijing “will maintain its objective and fair position on the Ukraine crisis.” “China has maintained exchanges with all parties,” he added. Qin assured Kuleba that China will try to help “a cessation of hostilities, the alleviation of the crisis and the restoration of peace between Ukraine and Russia.” “Ukraine has expressed its commitment to establish sincere relations with China on the basis of mutual respect, and China appreciates this,” the Chinese minister said in the conversation.
According to the transcript offered by Beijing, Kuleba stated that “China is not only an important partner of Ukraine, but also plays an indispensable role in international affairs.”
With the call to Kuleba and the visit of Xi, China, which insists that it has always maintained “an objective and impartial position” on the conflict although it does not describe the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a war, seems to present its credentials as a mediator after interceding between Iran and Saudi Arabia to reestablish their diplomatic relations.
Last year, Xi and Putin strengthened their ties just days after the war broke out in Ukraine, but China says that the close relations between Beijing and Moscow “do not threaten any country” and that they “advance the multipolarization of the world.”
Likewise, Beijing recently issued a statement on what it calls the “conflict” in Ukraine in which it defends respect for the sovereignty of all countries, the abandonment of the “cold war mentality” and a ceasefire. He also called for “moderation” to “prevent the situation from getting out of control” and leading to a nuclear conflict, a proposal criticized by the West for putting “the aggressor and the victimized” on the same level.
China was one of the countries that abstained from voting on a resolution condemning the Russian invasion in the UN Assembly, and although it has not explicitly supported Moscow, it has opposed sanctions against Russia because “it does not They solve problems.” (Eph)
