China has expressed its commitment to promoting peace talks and facilitating a ceasefire in Ukraine. Chinese President Xi Jinping made the pledge during a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Monday. According to Chinese state media reports, Xi assured Zelenskiy that China, as a responsible major country and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, would not remain passive or exacerbate the conflict.
The White House welcomed the call between the two leaders, but emphasized that it was too soon to tell whether the conversation would lead to a peace deal. The call was also welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron, whose office disclosed that he had urged Xi to make the phone call during his visit to Beijing earlier this month.
The 14-month conflict in Ukraine is at a critical juncture, with the country planning to launch a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months following a Russian winter offensive that made only incremental advances. However, there are currently no peace talks in sight, with Kyiv demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops and Moscow insisting that Ukraine recognize its claims to annexed territory.
Ukrainian officials have long called on China to leverage its influence with Russia to help bring about an end to the war. Following the Xi-Zelenskiy talks, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted China’s readiness to establish a negotiation process.
China has maintained that it is positioned to mediate the conflict because it has not taken sides. The country’s foreign ministry has also emphasized that its efforts to resolve the crisis have been above board. However, Western countries have criticized China’s 12-point peace proposal as too vague and lacking a concrete path out of the conflict. Some also fear that the proposal could be used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to promote a truce that would leave Russian forces in control of occupied territory.
Earlier this week, European countries expressed alarm after China’s ambassador to France stated that ex-Soviet states such as Ukraine did not have an actual status in international law. China has since affirmed that its position on the independence of ex-Soviet states remains unchanged.
