The two countries’ top diplomats have only exchanged thoughts on the “root cause” of the Ukraine crisis, Maria Zakharova says
Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attends a press briefing in Moscow. © Sputnik / Russian Foreign Ministry
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi did not discuss Beijing’s yet-to-be-unveiled peace proposal for the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev, the ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, told reporters on Wednesday.
“Our Chinese partners explained their thoughts on the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, as well as their approaches to its political resolution,” she said. The official added “there were no talks of any specific ‘plan’.”
Wang first mentioned his “peace proposal” at the Munich Security Conference last week. “We will put forth China’s position on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis,” the diplomat announced. Wang warned that he knew that “some forces might not want to see peace talks materialize” without naming any party in particular.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin also commented on the peace proposal at the Monday press briefing. “The international community is fully aware who is calling for dialogue and striving for peace, and who is fanning the flames and stoking confrontation,” the diplomat said. He then encouraged the US to “seriously reflect on the role it has played” in the Ukrainian conflict so far.
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On Tuesday, Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun said that a “position paper” with China’s consistent views on the conflict would be released “within days.”
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky commented on the plan during a press conference on Tuesday, saying that he had his own “peace formula” supported by a large number of states. Zelensky was apparently referring to the so-called ‘10-point peace plan’ that was presented by him at the G20 summit in November.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow anticipated a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping once Beijing had completed items on its domestic agenda. “We assume that we will realize our plans regarding face-to-face meetings, which will give an additional boost to our relations,” Putin added.
