China’s foreign minister said Thursday that Beijing is worried about the one-year-old grinding conflict with Russia spiraling out of hand and encouraged dialogue on a negotiated settlement with Moscow in a rare phone chat with his Ukrainian counterpart.
Before, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang pleaded with the West not to push China through the conflict in Ukraine.
At a forum on Tuesday in Beijing, Qin urged diplomats and academics to cease “throwing oil on the fire, blaming China, and “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow” advocacy right away.
According to the statement, Qin told Dmytro Kuleba that China had constantly maintained an impartial and equitable approach to the Ukraine issue.
The minister further added that the country has dedicated itself to advocating a truce and promoting dialogues and urges the world’s nations to create grounds for peace talks.
Later, Kuleba tweeted that both had discussed the importance of the concept of territorial integrity and that he had underscored the significance of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “Peace Formula” for putting an end to Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.
Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan calls for the return of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, which will not be subject to negotiations, the removal of all Russian forces, an end to all hostilities, and the creation of a special court to try Russian war criminals. China recently offered a 12-point road map for a political resolution of the Ukraine crisis which was followed by Beijing’s unusual involvement in the war in Ukraine on Thursday.
After hosting talks last week in which longtime rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to re-establish full diplomatic ties, China has enhanced its reputation as an impartial mediator.
Beijing, however, must deal with its 2022 proclamation of a “no-limits” friendship with Russia if it wants to pursue its newly discovered desire in observing a conclusion to the more than year-long war in Ukraine. China has also refrained from denouncing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, saying that all nations’ sovereignty and territorial integrity should be honored.
However, Beijing has denounced Western penalties against Russia and charged NATO and the US with inciting Russia to attack Ukraine.
Any strategy to end the conflict, according to Ukraine, must include the withdrawal of Russian forces from its borders in 1991, the year in which the Soviet Union was dismantled.
As soon as next week, Chinese President Xi Jinping is anticipated to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin and speak virtually with Zelenskiy.
Analysts predict that it will be challenging for China to convince Russia and Ukraine to participate in negotiations, but some have noted that Xi could serve as a back channel for generating interest in discussions.
Qin stated that China was hoping that all parties would maintain composure and reason and that they would resume peace talks as quickly as possible, and press for an immediate return to the track.
He declared that China will remain to play an active role in bringing about a cease-fire, putting an end to hostilities, managing the crisis, and establishing peace.
