Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his support for China’s proposal for a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine crisis in an interview published early on Wednesday, ahead of his visit to Beijing later this week. Putin stated that China has a deep understanding of the underlying causes of the crisis and its global significance.
In his conversation with China’s Xinhua news agency, Putin emphasized Russia’s commitment to dialogue and negotiation as the means to resolve the conflict, which has persisted for over two years. He praised China’s approach, noting that it takes into account the root causes of the crisis and promotes constructive steps to overcome the Cold War mentality.
“We are positive in our assessment of China’s approach to solving the Ukrainian crisis,” Putin said, according to a Russian-language transcript on the Kremlin website. “In Beijing, they truly understand its root causes and its global geopolitical meaning.”
China initially presented a 12-point plan more than a year ago outlining general principles for ending the conflict, but it received a lukewarm response at the time, from both Russia and Ukraine.
Russia perceives the conflict as a struggle pitting it against the “collective West,” which took no account of Moscow’s security concerns by promoting the eastward expansion of NATO and military activity close to its borders. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from fascists. Meanwhile, Ukraine and Western nations view Russia’s actions as unprovoked aggression, calling the fascist allegation baseless.
Despite ongoing efforts to convene a “peace summit” in Switzerland in June, Russia is not invited and has dismissed the initiative as irrelevant to the “new realities”.
China has attended some preparatory talks for the summit and Ukraine has deployed great efforts to persuade it to attend.
While Russia and China have strengthened their relationship in recent years, including proclaiming a “no limits” partnership, China has refrained from providing direct military support to Russia in its conflict with Ukraine.
However, Ukraine continues to advocate for Russian troop withdrawal, the restoration of its 1991 post-Soviet borders and accountability for its actions.
Melissa Enoch
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