Zelensky accuses China of torpedoing the peace summit convened in Switzerland

The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, accused China this Sunday of helping Russia in its attempts to “prevent” the peace summit scheduled for June 15 in Switzerland. The Ukrainian leader has assured that Beijing is “exerting pressure on other countries”, although without specifying which ones, so that their representatives do not attend the negotiations to end more than two years of war on European soil. “That is not just supporting Russia, it is fundamentally supporting the war,” Zelensky charged. The Ukrainian president made these statements during a surprise appearance at the Shangri-La Dialogue – Asia’s most important security forum – organized annually in Singapore.

“Russia, using China’s influence in the region and Chinese diplomats, is doing everything possible to disrupt the development of the peace summit,” Zelensky said in a press conference organized on the sidelines of the event that brings together senior defense authorities. . “It is regrettable that a country as large, independent and powerful as China is an instrument in the hands of [Vladímir] Putin,” Zelensky criticized, according to the Singaporean television channel CNA.

“With China’s support for Russia, the war will be prolonged. “This is to the detriment of everyone,” Zelensky told reporters. The Ukrainian leader took the opportunity to warn Beijing that this position also goes against its own claims of sovereignty and territorial integrity, a reference to Taiwan, which has been the topic that has dominated Chinese discourse at the forum, according to the newspaper. Hong Kong South China Morning Post.

China was expected to send representatives of its diplomatic corps to the peace summit convened in the Alpine nation, as has happened in some of the previous meetings in which Ukrainian peace proposals have been discussed. However, on Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed the country’s absence, because “the preparations for the meeting do not meet China’s conditions or the general expectations of the international community.”

Russia has not been invited to the summit, and Beijing claims that an international conference to seek a solution to the conflict must receive the backing of both Moscow and kyiv. In addition, it calls for “all parties to participate equally and for all proposals to be debated in a fair and equitable manner,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday. “Otherwise, it will be difficult for it to play a substantive role in restoring peace,” Mao added.

The Ukrainian peace conference will be held in the Swiss town of Lucerne on June 15 and 16 and aims to develop Zelensky’s ten-point peace plan, which calls for the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity to the borders of 1991 and the withdrawal of Russian troops, among other demands.

The Ukrainian president has attended the Shangri-La Dialogue to try to gather support among Asian countries at the summit, which he has urged to “unite against a war.” Although Zelensky has assured that 106 nations will attend the peace talks, he was also “disappointed” by the fact that “some world leaders have not yet confirmed their participation.” One of them is the American president, Joe Biden, who is campaigning for re-election.

The Chinese Defense Minister, Dong Jun, spoke at the Asian forum a few hours before the Ukrainian leader did so and, according to the agencies present at the event, he was not in the room during Zelensky’s call. Although Dong did not specifically mention the Swiss summit, he did emphasize that “on the Ukraine crisis” – China continues not to characterize the war as such – his country “has been promoting peace talks with a responsible attitude.” He also emphasized that the Asian giant is “on the side of peace and dialogue” and “has never provided weapons to any of the parties to the conflict.” “We have established strict controls on exports of dual-use products, and we have never done anything to fan the flames,” Dong said.

Moscow ally

China claims its neutrality, but its position provokes misgivings in the West. Since the start of the Russian invasion, Beijing has become a key economic lifeline for Moscow, and both sides have only strengthened their already close strategic and diplomatic partnership. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested that China could organize a conference where Russia and Ukraine would sit down to negotiate.

On the first anniversary of the war, Beijing presented a roadmap to seek a “political solution to the crisis”, a 12-point document that established general principles to end the war, but without providing specific details. Two weeks ago, China and Brazil signed a joint statement calling for peace talks. This Sunday, Zelensky also criticized in the media that, despite his interest in increasing dialogue with the Chinese side, he has not been able to hold any meeting with the representatives of the Asian giant present in Singapore.

The Shangri-La Dialogue is held annually at the hotel of the same name in the city-state, known as “Asian Switzerland” for its neutrality, and has become one of the most important international security conferences on the planet as the axis of world geopolitics has shifted towards the Asia-Pacific. It is organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, an institution based in London.

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