In a long-anticipated plan, published on Friday, February 24th, the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China is calling for peace. The 12-point document, which refrains from explicitly assigning blame to either party, advocates dialogue and cessation of sanctions.
Its peace plan, in which Beijing positions itself as a mediator, notes that “conflict and war benefit no one.”
Beijing calls for an abandonment of a Cold War mentality, observing that a country’s security “should not be pursued at the expense of others.” In a not-so-veiled critique of NATO’s eastward expansion in the last few decades, it notes that the security of a region “should not be achieved by strengthening or expanding military blocs,” and that
the legitimate security interests and concerns of all countries [a possible reference to the Kremlin’s desire for iron-clad security guarantees, which it made known in December 2021] must be taken seriously and addressed properly.
Beijing urged all parties to “stay rational and exercise restraint, avoid fanning the flames and aggravating tensions, and prevent the crisis from deteriorating further or even spiraling out of control.” The plan calls for all parties to
support Russia and Ukraine in working in the same direction and resuming direct dialogue as quickly as possible, so as to gradually de-escalate the situation and ultimately reach a comprehensive ceasefire.
Beijing also decried the use of “unilateral sanctions,” which the collective West imposed on Russia following its February 24th invasion. Sanctions “cannot solve the issue,” as they “only create new problems,” the document states. As such, it continues, “relevant countries” should “stop abusing” them, so that they “do their share in de-escalating the Ukraine crisis.”
The plan is mostly being greeted with skepticism by the West.
Speaking to reporters while in Estonia, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg noted that Beijing “does not have much credibility because they have not been able to condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine.”
At the same news conference, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said China had not shared a peace plan but mere principles. “We will look at the principles, of course, but we will look at them against the backdrop that China has taken sides,” she said.
On the American side, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC’s Good Morning America that “any proposal that can advance peace is something that is worth looking at.” He however remarked upon the fact that the plan contained 12 points, and that if they [the Chinese] “were serious about the first one, sovereignty, then this war could end tomorrow,” he declared:
China has been trying to have it both ways: It is on the one hand trying to present itself publicly as neutral and seeking peace, while at the same time it is talking up Russia’s false narrative about the war.
Blinken added that China had been providing nonlethal assistance to Russia through its companies, and charged that Beijing was “now contemplating lethal assistance.”
A February 23rd report in German magazine Der Spiegel, without citing sources, revealed that China is in negotiations to deliver so-called “kamikaze drones” to Moscow. Thus far, Beijing has denied what, for now, are still rumors. The collective West has made repeated warnings to China that any move to sell weapons to Russia would bring with it severe consequences.
On Saturday, February 25th, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the fact that China had “presented their position, a comprehensive view of this war.” Having read the plan, he said he agreed with some of its elements. Yet he took issue on the point about ‘unilateral sanctions,’ as his government believes that sanctions “are an important tool.” He observed that “overall it is an interesting document.”
As the document is still being studied by Ukrainian officials, the minister stressed that “we have to go through it from start to end and make our own conclusions.”
