China is promoting its plan for a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine, telling other countries that the Peace Summit will continue the war.
This was reported by Reuters, citing officials who wished to remain anonymous.
China does not publicly criticize the Peace Summit, writes Reuters, and does not ask developing countries to refrain from participating in it. However, Beijing privately told the governments of these countries that the meeting in Switzerland would continue the war.
At the same time, as the Switzerland summit approaches, China has stepped up its outreach to foreign officials, diplomats said, with Beijing's special envoy for Eurasian affairs Li Hui visiting Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates last month and meeting with developing countries at their embassies in the Chinese capital.
China is trying to attract other countries to the six-point China-Brazil peace plan, which calls for an international peace conference “at an appropriate time that both Russia and Ukraine accept, with equal participation by all parties, and honest discussion of all peace plans.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said last week that 45 countries supported the proposal, with more than two dozen either joining or “seriously considering” it. his. Reuters journalists were unable to determine what impact Chinese lobbying had, but the number of registered participants at the summit in Switzerland decreased.
Radio Liberty previously wrote about the decrease in the number of participants at the summit. According to him, the number of countries and organizations that confirmed their participation decreased from 93 to 78. Who exactly changed their mind about going to the summit — unknown.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky previously stated that China can help restore fair peace and stability in international relations for Ukraine. Therefore, he asked the head of China, Xi Jinping, to support the Global Peace Summit “with his personal leadership and participation.”
And the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Ermak, said that Ukraine would make every effort to ensure that China took part in the peace conference.< /p>
But at the end of May, the Chinese Foreign Ministry still could not answer whether their delegation would come to the summit. Reuters, citing four sources, wrote that China decided not to participate in the conference because it wants it to be recognized by both Russia and Ukraine.
Subsequently, the Ukrainian president accused Beijing of involvement of Chinese diplomats in an attempt to disrupt the upcoming Peace Summit in Switzerland. The Chinese Foreign Ministry rejected these accusations, saying that their country “never fanned the flames or fueled the flames of the Russian-Ukrainian war.”
Prepared by: Nina Petrovich