High hopes for five-nation peace shuttling
From Monday, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs Li Hui is paying visits to Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia for communication aimed at promoting a political settlement to the Ukraine crisis.
Since the start of the crisis, China has adopted a principled position calling for joint efforts to promote an end to the conflict. As the crisis has dragged on and escalated, and the spillover effects have worsened, a growing number of countries have acknowledged the road map to peace that China proposed in its position paper.
The 12 points set out in the paper take into account the legitimate concerns of all parties and look beyond a cessation of the current hostilities to the broader issues of reducing strategic risks and mitigating the spillover effects that have been caused by the conflict. As a feasible foundation on which to build a consensus, it has received extensive understanding and recognition from the international community.
Through his coordination, Li will hope to provide momentum for the resumption of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia and seek to foster agreement on a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture for Europe.
Ukraine and Russia are the two belligerents and any end to the crisis necessitates dialogue between them to de-escalate the situation and ultimately reach a cease-fire and establish the conditions in which peace talks can have a chance to bear fruit.
Poland, France and Germany are key stakeholders in realizing the broadest common understanding in Europe of any peace agreement.
It is notable, that the United States is not among Li’s destinations. Although US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “We’re open to any country engaging in responsible efforts to try to advance peace”, the US has not yet demonstrated its willingness to create the space necessary for the compromises that could bring an end to the conflict.
Having played Europe against Russia with the aim of permanently debilitating it, scared several European nations into joining NATO and made a profit of $100 million per ship by selling liquefied natural gas to Europe with Russia’s gas supply cut, the US has perhaps been the only beneficiary from the bloodshed in Europe. And it has certainly been the biggest. As such it is questionable whether it is “open” to any efforts to try to advance peace, as Blinken claimed.
Regardless, China will continue to play a constructive role by making efforts to broker peace talks. It has expressed its hopes that the international community will extend its support to Li’s efforts by not making any moves that exacerbate tensions and protract the fighting.
It is to be hoped that the US will honor Blinken’s words by heeding that call.
Editorial, China Daily
