The Chinese foreign minister, Qin Gang, has expressed alarm to his Ukrainian colleague about the potential for a further escalation of hostilities with Russia and has advocated direct negotiations with Moscow. During an unusual phone call on Thursday, Qin reportedly informed Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that China supported progress in peace talks. According to the statement, Qin assured Kuleba that China “has always kept an impartial and fair attitude” on the Ukrainian problem.
The ministry “has dedicated itself to fostering peace and furthering discussions and calls on the international community to establish circumstances for peace talks,” the statement reads. In a subsequent tweet, Kuleba claimed that he and Qin had “discussed the necessity of the concept of territorial integrity” and that he had “underscored” the need of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “Peace Formula” for ending Russia’s conflict against Ukraine. Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace formula includes, among other things, the withdrawal of all Russian troops, the cessation of all hostilities, and the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes. However, there will be no “negotiations” on the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Beijing recently suggested a 12-point road plan for a “political settlement of the Ukrainian problem,” and on Thursday, China joined the war against Ukraine for the first time in decades. This week, China hosted discussions during which long-time adversaries Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to reestablish full diplomatic ties, enhancing Beijing’s credentials as an impartial mediator. But, China’s 2022 statement of a “no-limits” friendship with Russia complicates Beijing’s newfound interest in seeing an end to the over a year-long battle in Ukraine. Although insisting that all nations’ sovereignty and territorial integrity be maintained, China has also refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Yet, Beijing has criticized Western sanctions on Russia and has blamed NATO and the United States for Moscow’s war on Ukraine. Foreign Minister Qin made the implication that the United States was obstructing peace efforts in Ukraine to prolong the war for its own gain during a press conference on March 7.
An “invisible hand” is “pushing for the protraction and intensification of the war” and “using the Ukraine issue to fulfil a specific geopolitical goal,” he claimed. The foreign ministry did not specify that Qin had repeated these comments to Kuleba over the phone on Thursday, nor did they say that the two had discussed China’s peace plan. Xi Jinping, President of China, is expected to visit Russia as soon as next week. But, the exact timing of his meeting with Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, has not yet been confirmed.
