China calls for ‘fair and binding’ Ukraine peace deal
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called for a fair, lasting, and binding peace agreement to end the Ukraine conflict, urging all parties to work toward a negotiated settlement. In an interview with RIA Novosti released on Tuesday, during a three-day visit to Moscow, Wang said that the root causes of the conflict need to be eliminated.
Kiev’s NATO ambitions were among the main reasons for the conflict, and Moscow has insisted upon Ukrainian neutrality along with demilitarization and denazification as settlement keystones.
“We advocate the eradication of the causes of the crisis through dialogue and negotiations, and ultimately the achievement of a fair, long-term, binding peace agreement acceptable to all parties involved,” Wang said in the interview. “This would make it possible to achieve truly lasting peace and stability in Eurasia and throughout the world.”
On Monday US President Donald Trump echoed the position, dismissing Ukraine’s NATO membership ambitions, saying Kiev “is never going to be a member” of the military bloc.
Wang acknowledged that the “causes of the crisis are extremely complex” and that Kiev and Moscow have so far failed to find common ground on a number of key issues, but noted that there is “a tendency towards peace negotiations,” which Beijing finds encouraging.
“The path to restoring peace is long [but] certain results have been achieved,” he said, referring to the recent Russia-US diplomatic rapprochement and the initial progress toward a political settlement with a partial ceasefire agreement.
“A step towards peace, although not that big, is constructive – it is worth taking. You can’t get peace lying down, you have to achieve it by hard work,” he said, adding that the thaw in Russia-US relations “inspires optimism in the disappointing international situation.”
Wang arrived in Moscow on Sunday for a three-day official visit at the invitation of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also revealed that President Vladimir Putin is expected to met with Wang.
China has said the Russia-Ukraine conflict must be resolved through negotiations, and last year alongside Brazil, presented a six-point proposal for a diplomatic settlement. In his interview, Wang reiterated that China is ready to “play a constructive role in the settlement” of the conflict.
