https://sputnikglobe.com/20230515/what-to-expect-from-top-chinese-envoys-shuttle-peace-tour-to-ukraine-russia--europe-1110361165.html
What to Expect From Top Chinese Envoy's Shuttle ‘Peace’ Tour to Ukraine, Russia & Europe
What to Expect From Top Chinese Envoy's Shuttle ‘Peace’ Tour to Ukraine, Russia & Europe
Sputnik International
Li Hui, China's special representative for Eurasian affairs, is setting off on a bout of shuttle diplomacy to five countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Germany, and France.
2023-05-15T06:52+0000
2023-05-15T06:52+0000
2023-05-15T07:51+0000
china
ukraine crisis
volodymyr zelensky
xi jinping
world
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Li Hui, China's special representative for Eurasian affairs, is setting off on a bout of shuttle diplomacy that will take him to five countries, namely Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Germany, and France.The department stopped short of providing a detailed schedule of the visit, but underscored:According to some media reports, Li is to make his first stop in Ukraine.Li will be the highest-ranking Chinese official to meet with Kiev authorities since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis in February 2022. He will also be a familiar face when he steps foot on Russian soil. The official who joined the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Soviet and East European Affairs in 1975, spent 10 years in Russia - between 2009 and 2019 - as an ambassador, and is fluent in Russian. Russia's President Vladimir Putin presented the Order of Friendship to the Chinese Ambassador to Russia in 2019. Li previously served as head of Eastern European and Central Asian affairs in the foreign ministry.Message & TimingBeijing's 12-point proposal for a diplomatic settlement of the Ukraine crisis is at the heart of Li's message during his shuttle tour. Chinai is serious about becoming a major diplomatic player and has called for peace talks between Kiev and Moscow to be resumed; for nuclear power plants to be kept safe and strategic risks reduced; for unilateral sanctions to be ended and the Cold War mentality to be abandoned; and to promote post-conflict reconstruction in Ukraine.In March, the People's Republic of China orchestrated a historic reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The two rivals signed an agreement to restore full diplomatic relations, confirming China's status as an influential mediator. The West was always going to be sceptical about any plan proposed by China about a settlement for Ukraine. But Vladimir Putin said that the blueprint could be a basis for ending the Ukraine conflict if the West were ready to accept the plan.The announcement that Li would be sweeping through Europe to engage in "in-depth communication with all parties on political settlement of the Ukraine crisis" was made after Chinese President Xi Jinping had a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in April. At the time, Moscow noted Beijing's readiness to establish a negotiation process, but emphasized that Kiev is still rejecting "any sensible initiatives aimed at a political and diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, and eventual agreement to negotiations" dictating ultimatums with "deliberately unrealistic demands".Xi's telephone conversation with Zelensky came in the wake of the Chinese leader's visit to Moscow in mid-March, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The leaders signed a sweeping agreement to bring the relationship between their two countries into a “new era," with analysts hailing the cooperation as shifting the geopolitical focus from unilateral hegemony to a more equal "multipolar" world order.The Chinese President's visit set off a flurry of diplomatic activity around Beijing. Several European leaders made a beeline for Beijing, including Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. The European officials juggled "charm offensive" with "pressure campaign" in an attempt to dissuade Beijing from supporting Russia. However, they were careful not to alienate a key trade partner and increasingly assertive global player. The top Chinese envoy's tour comes amid speculations about an imminent Ukraine "counteroffensive." The much-heralded "onslaught" would be carried out with the billions of dollars of weaponry with which Washington and its NATO allies have provided the Kiev regime. Now, the West is described as expecting Ukraine to deliver on the goods, showing success on the battlefield. The very countries that the Chinese top envoy will reportedly visit - France, Germany and Poland - are among the main suppliers of weapons and financial assistance to Ukraine and it will be interesting to hear how China's "peace" tour goes down with them.As to Russia, it has repeatedly said that it values China's sincere desire to contribute to the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. The Kremlin has emphasized several times that it is ready to negotiate, whereas the government in Kiev has ruled out any talks as long as Putin remains president of Russia."We have repeatedly said that Russia's goals can be achieved in various ways — these are political and diplomatic or, if political and diplomatic are currently impossible - and in the case of Ukraine, they are impossible, unfortunately - via the military way, that is, through a special military operation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230426/russia-on-xi-zelensky-talks-moscow-notes-beijings-readiness-to-establish-negotiation-process-1109853082.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230514/us-pressure-on-kiev-to-deliver-battlefield-success-could-botch-counteroffensive-1110333858.html
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What to Expect From Top Chinese Envoy's Shuttle ‘Peace’ Tour to Ukraine, Russia & Europe
06:52 GMT 15.05.2023 (Updated: 07:51 GMT 15.05.2023) Chinese President Xi Jinping held a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in late April, after which Beijing announced it would send a Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs, Li Hui, to Kiev and other European countries for consultations on a "political settlement of the Ukraine crisis".
Li Hui, China's special representative for Eurasian affairs, is setting off on a bout of shuttle diplomacy that will take him to five countries, namely Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Germany, and France.
"The visit of Chinese representatives to relevant countries is another demonstration of China’s commitment to promoting peace and talks. It fully demonstrates that China is firmly on the side of peace,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing on Friday.
The department stopped short of providing a detailed schedule of the visit, but underscored:
“The current crisis in Ukraine has been protracted, is escalating, and the spill-over effect continues. China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in building more international consensus on a ceasefire, initiation of peace talks, and preventing the situation from escalating ... to promote a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”
According to some media reports, Li is to make his first stop in Ukraine.
Li will be the highest-ranking Chinese official to meet with Kiev authorities since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis in February 2022. He will also be a familiar face when he steps foot on Russian soil. The official who joined the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Soviet and East European Affairs in 1975, spent 10 years in Russia - between 2009 and 2019 - as an ambassador, and is fluent in Russian. Russia's President Vladimir Putin presented the Order of Friendship to the Chinese Ambassador to Russia in 2019. Li previously served as head of Eastern European and Central Asian affairs in the foreign ministry.
Beijing's 12-point
proposal for a diplomatic settlement of the Ukraine crisis is at the heart of Li's message during his shuttle tour. Chinai is serious about becoming a major diplomatic player and has called for peace talks between Kiev and Moscow to be resumed; for nuclear power plants to be kept safe and strategic risks reduced; for unilateral sanctions to be ended and the Cold War mentality to be abandoned; and to promote post-conflict reconstruction in Ukraine.
In March, the People's Republic of China orchestrated a historic reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The two rivals signed an agreement to restore full diplomatic relations, confirming China's status as an influential mediator. The West was always going to be sceptical about any plan proposed by China about a settlement for Ukraine. But Vladimir Putin said that the blueprint could be a basis for ending the Ukraine conflict if the West were ready to accept the plan.
The announcement that Li would be sweeping through Europe to engage in "in-depth communication with all parties on political settlement of the Ukraine crisis" was made after Chinese President Xi Jinping
had a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in April. At the time, Moscow
noted Beijing's readiness to establish a negotiation process, but emphasized that
Kiev is still rejecting "any sensible initiatives aimed at a political and diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, and eventual agreement to negotiations" dictating ultimatums with "deliberately unrealistic demands".
"The Ukrainian authorities and their Western curators have already demonstrated their ability to wind up peaceful initiatives ... Thus any calls for peace are unlikely to be adequately received by puppets controlled by Washington," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Xi's telephone conversation with Zelensky came in the wake of the
Chinese leader's visit to Moscow in mid-March, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The leaders signed a sweeping agreement to bring the relationship between their two countries into a “new era," with analysts hailing the cooperation as shifting the geopolitical focus from unilateral hegemony to a more equal "multipolar" world order.
The Chinese President's visit set off a flurry of diplomatic activity around Beijing. Several European leaders made a beeline for Beijing, including Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. The European officials juggled "charm offensive" with "pressure campaign" in an attempt to dissuade Beijing from supporting Russia. However, they were careful not to alienate a key trade partner and increasingly assertive global player.
The top Chinese envoy's tour comes amid
speculations about an imminent Ukraine "counteroffensive." The much-heralded "onslaught" would be carried out with the billions of dollars of weaponry with which Washington and its NATO allies have provided the Kiev regime. Now, the West is described as expecting Ukraine to deliver on the goods, showing success on the battlefield. The very countries that the Chinese top envoy will reportedly visit - France, Germany and Poland - are among the main suppliers of weapons and financial assistance to Ukraine and it will be interesting to hear how China's "peace" tour goes down with them.
As to Russia, it has repeatedly said that it values China's sincere desire to contribute to the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. The Kremlin has emphasized several times that it is ready to negotiate, whereas the government in Kiev has ruled out any talks as long as Putin remains president of Russia.
"We have repeatedly said that Russia's goals can be achieved in various ways — these are political and diplomatic or, if political and diplomatic are currently impossible - and in the case of Ukraine, they are impossible, unfortunately - via the military way, that is, through a special military operation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
stated.
