With his appeal to the Ukrainian president on Wednesday, President Xi Jinping wants to appear as a peacemaker in the face of Westerners who have failed to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.
What was really said during this telephone exchange? After the telephone conversation on Wednesday April 26 between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Volodymyr Zelensky, a first since the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the end of February 2022, what to expect from China and its calls for peace negotiations?
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Ukrainian President Xi Jinping has announced the dispatch of a delegation to Ukraine headed by a special representative of the Chinese government. to search “a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis”. In recent months, many specialists have been saying that China does not really want to play the mediator in the conflict. Beijing’s twelve-point document, published in February on the war in Ukraine, was not really formal on the subject. This time, China’s intentions are now much clearer.
The word is even dropped by the very official GlobalTimesin Beijing, which therefore speaks of a “Chinese mediation”. China clearly wants to appear as a peacemaker in the face of Westerners who have failed to settle the Ukrainian conflict. And the Chinese press highlights Beijing’s potential in this area. After a first big diplomatic success obtained last March, the reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
An image of neutrality
However, this mediation raises questions. A few days ago, the Chinese Defense Minister, on a visit to Moscow, said he was determined to strengthen cooperation with the Russian army. These statements are not really appropriate for a country that wants to mediate in the Ukrainian conflict.
So in this context, on Wednesday, Xi Jinping worked to show an image of neutrality, making it very clear for the first time that China supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. “On the subject of the Ukrainian crisis, China has always been on the side of peace and its fundamental position is to promote peace dialogue.”he said, according to the state television channel CCTV, also promising that China was not seeking to “To take advantage of” of this war.
Will this mediation be approved or not by the Russian side? So far, Moscow has shown itself to be extremely cautious, not to say hostile to this project.