A year after Russia’s war with Ukraine began, China put forward a 12-point proposal to end the fighting.
The proposal was released this Friday, but it had been announced on Saturday by the Chinese diplomat who occupies the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, during the Munich Security Conference and intends, according to the official, to achieve “a peace initiative ” to end the war in Ukraine in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
With this announcement, President Xi Jinping’s China reiterated its intention to be neutral in the war, despite continuing to block United Nations efforts to condemn the invasion.
The document, which Ukraine said it was not aware of, echoes Russian claims that Western governments are to blame for the February 24, 2022 invasion and criticizes sanctions enacted against Russia.
At the Munich meeting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed skepticism about Beijing’s position even before the plan was published, adding that he had information that China was “considering providing lethal support ” to Russia, an accusation that Beijing considered to be “a slander”.
China’s proposal calls for a ceasefire, peace talks and an end to sanctions against Russia.
China assigned responsibility for the sanctions to other “relevant countries” without naming them, but noted that these countries “should stop abusing unilateral sanctions” and “do their part to reduce the crisis in Ukraine.”
Many of the 12 points of the proposal are very general and do not contain specific proposals.
Without mentioning Russia or Ukraine, Pequim defends that the sovereignty of all countries must be maintained, but he did not specify how it would work for Ukraine, I keep in mind that Russia has annexed several regions of the country, to start with Crimea , in 2014.
The proposal also condemns the “Cold War mentality”, a term often used by China to refer to the United States or the US-European military alliance, NATO.
“The security of a region should not be achieved by strengthening or expanding military blocs,” the proposal says.
Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded, before the invasion, a promise that Ukraine would not join the Atlantic Alliance, which is currently under negotiation.
Other points in the Chinese proposal call for a ceasefire, peace negotiations, protection for prisoners of war and an end to attacks on civilians, without giving further details, in addition to defending the maintenance of the security of nuclear power plants and agreements to facilitate the export. cereal
“The basic tone and fundamental message of the policy is very pro-Russia,” Li Mingjiang, a professor of Chinese foreign policy and international security at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, was quoted as saying by the US news agency AP.
China has made conflicting statements about its position, saying that Russia was provoked by NATO’s eastward expansion, while at the same time claiming neutrality in relation to the conflict.
Before Russia’s attack, Xi and Putin attended the opening of last year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing and issued a statement that the two countries would enjoy “unlimited friendship.”
Since then, China has ignored Western criticism and reaffirmed its promise to Moscow.
Putin has said he expects Xi to visit Russia in the coming months, but China has yet to confirm the trip.
China is “trying to have the best of both worlds,” Antony Blinken said on Sunday, speaking to NBC television.
“Publicly it presents itself as a country fighting for peace in Ukraine, but privately, in recent months, it has provided non-lethal assistance that directly serves to aid and encourage Russia’s war effort,” he said.
China’s support for Russia has been largely rhetorical and political. Beijing has helped thwart efforts to condemn Moscow at the United Nations, but there is no public evidence that it is supplying Moscow with weapons, though the US says it provides “non-lethal support” and that support may grow and evolve. .
During the Munich Security Conference last week, Blinken said the United States fears that China is supplying Russia with weapons.
“We have information that concerns us that [os chineses] they are considering giving lethal support to Russia,” the US secretary of state said, adding that he had told the Chinese envoy to the meeting, diplomat Wang Yi, that “this would be a serious problem.”
In turn, the NATO secretary general said on Wednesday that he had seen some signs that China might be ready to supply weapons and warned that, if it did, the country would be supporting a violation of international law.
Russian and Chinese forces have conducted a series of joint exercises since the invasion began on February 24, 2022, the most recent with the South African Navy en route to the South African coast.
However, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov expressed doubts about China’s willingness to send lethal aid to Russia.
“I think if China helps them… it won’t be with weapons. It will be with certain types of clothing,” Reznikov said Monday.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which Moscow insists on describing as a “military offensive”, occurred a year ago today and was justified, at the time, by Vladimir Putin with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize the neighboring country.
The action was condemned by the international community in general, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia, as a state, but also on its companies and even private personalities.
Source: TSF
