China wants Russia at Ukraine peace talks – SCMP — RT World News
Beijing has reportedly told EU officials that no settlement can be discussed without Moscow
China and Switzerland are working behind the scenes to invite Russia to participate in proposed talks hosted by Switzerland aimed at ending the fighting between Kiev and Moscow, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Last month, Switzerland announced plans to organize a peace summit “By summer.” No specific date has been named yet. The number of potential participants has also not been revealed. However, Ukraine has indicated that Russia can only be invited if it previously agrees to a set of preconditions.
According to SCMP, China's Eurasia Envoy Li Hui told EU officials that the summit “It cannot be a conference that produces a plan that is forced down the throats of the Russians.” Sources also told the publication that both China and Switzerland are partnering “practical” We believe that negotiations should not be a mere formality.
Unlike many Western countries, Beijing has refused to blame Moscow for the outbreak of hostilities in February 2022, and has stressed that the conflict can only be ended through diplomacy.
“The earlier the talks start, the faster peace will arrive.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters at a Chinese Communist Party event in Beijing on Thursday. He added that “The absence of peace talks… may lead to a greater crisis.”
China proposed a 12-point roadmap for peace in February 2023. But Kiev rejected the initiative.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, in turn, insisted that the settlement could only be based on the 10-point “peace formula” he unveiled at the end of 2022.
Russia rejected Zelensky's terms as unrealistic, arguing that it would never surrender Crimea, which joined Russia after a Western-backed coup in Kiev in 2014, as well as four former Ukrainian regions that did the same in September 2022.
Ukraine and its Western backers called accession referendums “Trick” He accused Russia of illegally occupying Ukrainian territory. They later said that peace could only be achieved on Kiev's terms.
The Russian Ambassador to Switzerland, Sergei Garmonin, told local media in January 2024 that a peace summit would be held without Russian participation. “Doomed to fail.” Moscow insists that it is open to negotiations, but on acceptable terms.
According to SCMP, Chinese envoy Li told his EU counterparts that Moscow has two preconditions for the talks – a halt to Western arms shipments to Ukraine and the cancellation of Zelensky's 2022 decree stipulating that negotiations with Putin continue. “impossible.”
You can share this story on social media:
Source link
