China explains why it won't participate in Ukraine peace conference

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning (Photo: EPA).

China's Foreign Ministry said on May 31 that China will not attend the Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland in mid-June because the conference did not meet Beijing's expectations.

China wanted the conference to include both Russia and Ukraine, but Russia, a party to the conflict, was not invited. Russia also said the conference would be meaningless because Moscow would not attend.

Switzerland and Ukraine are inviting countries to the conference in the hope that the event could lay the foundations for a peace process in Ukraine.

"The organization of the conference has not yet met China's requirements and the general expectations of the international community, making it difficult for China to participate," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning.

"China has always stressed that an international peace conference must be approved by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation of all parties, and that all peace proposals must be discussed in a fair and equal manner. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the event to play an important role in restoring peace," Mao Ning said.

"We regret that the Chinese side did not take this opportunity to express its views on the basis of the Summit in Switzerland," she stressed.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested that China could become a mediator in organizing a peace conference involving both Moscow and Kiev.

During a visit to China last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine could use the peace conference in Switzerland to try to convince a broader group of countries to back Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's proposals, the terms of which Moscow denounced as an "ultimatum".

Mr Putin also expressed support for China's peace proposal, stressing that Beijing fully understood the reasons behind the crisis in Ukraine.

For more than two years, China has maintained a neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine war and has repeatedly called on all parties to come to the negotiating table.

Previously, the US and its allies accused China of providing Russia with dual-use goods, indirectly helping Moscow increase its military production capacity.

China denied the report, saying Beijing and Moscow have the right to trade goods.

China's Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Geng Shuang called the accusation "baseless" and "completely unacceptable".

"China is neither the creator nor a participant in the Ukrainian crisis. We have not supplied lethal weapons to any party in the conflict. We have not done what the United States has done, which is deliberately prolong the war and profit from the crisis. We will not do that," he said.

China called on the US, UK and the West to find ways to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, instead of trying to blame others.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/trung-quoc-neu-ly-do-khong-tham-gia-hoi-nghi-hoa-binh-ukraine-20240601195322323.htm