Volodymyr Zelensky toughens his tone quite drastically against China. The Ukrainian president on Sunday accused Beijing of “putting pressure” on countries so that they do not go to the peace summit, organized in Switzerland, which is to be held from June 15 to 16. This major conference, in which 106 countries have already confirmed their participation according to the Ukrainian president, will not see a Russian representative participating, the country not having been invited at Ukraine’s request. But there should also be no Chinese representative, Beijing having castigated Russia’s non-participation, confirming their ever closer rapprochement.
However, until now, Ukraine’s posture towards China has been mainly pragmatic. Knowing nothing of the intense ties linking the two countries, Volodymyr Zelensky wanted above all to smooth things over with Beijing, particularly with the hope that China would contribute as little as possible to the Kremlin’s war effort. The Ukrainian president was even careful not to directly attack his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, even when the latter was increasingly showcasing his “friendship” with Vladimir Putin. A diplomatic game probably lost in advance, while commercial ties between Russia and China have more than doubled over the last three years, exceeding 240 billion dollars in 2023 according to Chinese customs, and Putin and Xi Jinping continue to to highlight their convergence of views on the state of the world, in particular their rejection of the Western model.
For its part, China was especially keen to appear in the eyes of the world as a force for peace and mediation in Ukraine. Even if its narrative of the war was mainly modeled on that of Moscow, having never officially condemned the Russian invasion, regularly describing Western support for kyiv as an “escalation”, and calling for “respect for Russian security concerns” , the same words used by Moscow propaganda.
Chinese diplomatic support for Russia
But this very fine diplomatic balance between China and Ukraine, already often put to the test, will apparently have definitively given way as the peace summit organized in Switzerland approaches. For Volodymyr Zelensky, this event must represent the opportunity to bring together the largest number of countries in the world around the Ukrainian cause, and against the regime of Vladimir Putin. With in particular three subjects which should be at the heart of the discussions, he declared: nuclear security, food security, and the release of prisoners of war as well as Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia.
For its part, Russia is increasing its declarations to delegitimize this event and convince countries not to attend. An attempt at destabilization in which China would also take part, Volodymyr Zelensky assured this weekend. “What Russia is doing is it’s going around many countries around the world and threatening to block agricultural products, food products, it’s threatening to raise energy prices. “This fact pushes countries around the world not to participate in the summit,” the Ukrainian president criticized, adding that he had information according to which certain countries would assist him in this regard. And would use in particular “Chinese influence” and “Chinese diplomats” to “disrupt the summit”.
Military support in question
Zelensky’s charge on Chinese support for Russia does not stop there. On the thorny subject of Beijing’s military support for Moscow, the Ukrainian president also made very strong accusations. “[Xi Xinping] promised me that China would stand aside and not support Russia with weapons. Today, there is evidence from our intelligence that somehow things are coming to Russian markets through China. “Elements of Russian weapons come from China”, he assured this weekend. A “red line” set by the United States, which in recent weeks still assured that it had no proof of the slightest delivery arms between the two countries.
For its part, Beijing once again defended itself against this accusation. China “has not supplied weapons to either side, and exercises strict control over exports of dual-use goods (goods originally intended for civilian purposes, but which may have military use, Editor’s note)”, said a spokesperson for the Minister of Foreign Affairs. “We stand firmly on the side of peace and dialogue,” he added.
More generally, Beijing has denied all accusations of pressure to unravel the summit in Switzerland. “Using force politics is not the style of Chinese diplomacy, […] China’s position is open and transparent, and in no case do we put pressure on other countries,” said the Chinese Foreign Ministry. It also added “sincerely hope that this peace conference will not become not a platform to create confrontation between camps”, and that “not participating in the conference does not mean that we do not support peace”.
For several months now, China has been pressing Russia and Ukraine to reach a peace agreement… on Russian conditions, in particular concerning the maintenance of the Kremlin’s territorial gains. Arguments that are necessarily inaudible for the Ukrainian presidency, as Volodymyr Zelensky repeated again this weekend. “It was the Ukrainians who died and the Russians raped our women. They stole tens of thousands of our children. No one else has the right to dictate how this war should end.”