The United States strictly warned China against sending weapons to Russia.
China plans to launch a peace initiative on February 24, the anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine. A high-ranking Chinese diplomat told about this in connection with the Munich Security Conference Wang Yi.
According to him, the peace initiative would be based on the principles of geographical unity and the sovereignty of countries.
The proposal will probably be made by the Chinese president Xi Jinpingsays Euractiv news site (you are moving to another service).
Germany, Italy and France have already been told about China’s initiative, he says The Guardian magazine (you will switch to another service).
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbockin according to which the peace initiative is welcome. According to Baerbock, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has an obligation to promote world peace.
Western countries are suspicious of China’s intentions
China has balanced the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Beijing has not condemned the war started by Russia, but has criticized the sanctions imposed against Russia and continued, for example, energy purchases from Russia. However, China has not directly supported Russia’s war.
Many leading Western diplomats have been highly suspicious of China’s peace initiative. Fears have spread in Western countries that China is sending weapons to Russia.
Vice President of the United States Terrible Harris pointed out of the Financial Times magazine (you will switch to another service) according to that China has deepened its relationship with Russia throughout the conflict
– Any actions by China to send armaments to Russia would only reward the aggressor, continue killing and undermine the rules-based world order, he said.
According to the information leaked on China’s initiative, it would be a so-called position paper, where the starting point would be the current positions of the parties, on the basis of which the negotiations would begin.
US Secretary of State by Antony Blinken according to China’s idea of an immediate ceasefire can be interpreted as a trap that would benefit Russia.
– President of Russia Vladimir Putin may decide that since things are going badly for him, the best thing to do is call for an immediate ceasefire and create a ‘frozen conflict’. […] He [Putin] would never negotiate over the territories they captured, but at the same time would use the time to reorganize the forces, rest, arm and launch a new attack, Blinken warned.
Western countries point out that just three weeks after the Russian attack, Russia and China agreed on unlimited cooperation between the two countries.
According to the German foreign minister, China’s proposal cannot be accepted if it involves ending military aid to Ukraine.
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