Moscow (EFE).- Russian President Vladimir Putin received today the head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, to learn about the content of the peace initiative that the Asian giant intends to present for Ukraine.
Putin stressed that “cooperation in the international arena between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation (…) is of great importance for the stability of the international situation.”
The meeting in the Kremlin was also attended, on the Russian side, by the Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, and the Secretary of the Security Council, Nikolai Pátrushev.
“We support a multipolar world and the democratization of international relations (…)”, Wang said at the beginning of the meeting offered by public television, in which he also conveyed to Putin a “warm greeting” from the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, who will visit Russia in the coming months.
In addition, Wang stressed that the bilateral relationship is neither directed against third countries nor does it admit pressure from other powers.
Respect for the territorial integrity of Ukraine
According to the press, the draft of the Chinese peace initiative would include the defense of territorial integrity, a call for the cessation of hostilities and the protection of nuclear facilities in Ukraine, and the rejection of the use of chemical weapons.
The first reactions of some Western diplomats to Beijing’s proposal have been negative due to the fact that it does not contemplate the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, which they consider an essential condition to start a peace process.
Until now, China has defended the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but has not condemned the Russian military campaign, which it has even justified by NATO expansion.
Last week Wang already informed the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, about the key points of the initiative during a meeting in the German city of Munich.
Kuleba assured that kyiv will study it carefully as soon as they receive the full text.
The United States has warned that Beijing is considering supplying lethal weapons to Russia, which has been rejected by Chinese diplomacy.
In this regard, the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, assured this week that he is not aware that China has already supplied this type of weapon to the Russian army.
“Rock Strong” Relationships
Before the meeting with Putin. The head of Chinese diplomacy has met alone with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergui Lavrov, to whom he has conveyed China’s commitment to developing its relations with Russia despite the changing world situation.
Wang stressed that regardless of “changes in the world situation”, Beijing maintains its position of “applying efforts together with Russia for the development of positive trends in relations between the great powers”.
“Our relations are developing dynamically and, despite the high turbulence in the world arena, we exhibit cohesion and willingness to defend our interests on the basis of international respect and the central role of the UN,” Lavrov said in turn.
“China and Russia always uphold their strategic decision to firmly move on the path of forming a multipolar world. We have always been in favor of multipolarity, and against unilateral actions and hegemonism,” Wang added.
The representative of Beijing stressed that Sino-Russian relations “maintain a high dynamism in their development”, and that he hopes that “new agreements” will be reached.
