On February 24, the anniversary of the start of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, China released its plan for resolving hostilities. RTVI has collected a selection of reactions from Western, Ukrainian and Russian politicians to the document proposed by Beijing.
What is China’s plan
The plan proposed by Beijing consists of 12 points. In particular, China insists that countries should respect the sovereignty of other states and that the world should abandon the Cold War mentality of creating military blocs that could threaten the security of other countries. In addition, the document states that hostilities must be stopped and the negotiation process must be started, and it is also noted that the pressure of sanctions cannot resolve the crisis that has arisen,
At the same time, according to the Strana newspaper, despite the neutral wording, Beijing calls for the opening of negotiations without the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, and also does not raise the issue of Ukrainian borders that will develop after the end of the military conflict. However, political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya think that with its plan, Beijing implies that “the territorial integrity of Ukraine is indisputable, and Russia must recognize it”.
At the same time, Strana notes, “Beijing has repeated almost verbatim the Russian rhetoric that the security of some countries cannot be provided at the expense of others”, and this is an argument that Moscow has brought to negotiations with the United States. States and NATO before the start of hostilities (At that time, Russia demanded guarantees that Ukraine would not join the North Atlantic Alliance). “In other words, China proposes to the West to give such guarantees again,” writes the newspaper.
What Western Politicians Say
National Security Advisor to the President of the United States JakeSullivan : “[План Китая] can stop at the first point, which is respect for the sovereignty of all nations. Ukraine did not attack Russia. NATO did not attack Russia. The United States did not attack Russia.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg :
“There is not much trust in China because it has not been able to condemn Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.”
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission: “You have to see [эти соглашения] in a certain context, and it is in this context that China has already taken sides by signing, for example, the unlimited friendship agreement [с Россией] just before the invasion. So we will certainly look at the principles, but we will look at them in the context of China’s bias. »
What they say in Moscow and Kiev
Advisor to the Cabinet of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak:
“Any ‘peace plan’ that only provides for a ‘ceasefire’ and, therefore, a new dividing line and continued occupation of the territory of Ukraine is not a matter of peace, but to freeze the war, to lose Ukraine, the later stages of the Russian genocide Ukraine’s position is known: the withdrawal of Russian troops to the 1991 borders.
Deputy Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian State Duma Alexei Chepa . “This is a very precise document which respects all accepted norms of international law and which must be guaranteed by the rights and obligations declared by the UN. It will be difficult for anyone to disregard China’s opinion on the possibility of resolving this conflict. Many of these requirements stem from the security safeguards we announced at the end of 2021.”
