Whatever else it produced, this week’s visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow did not advance the cause of a just peace in Ukraine. If anything, Xi’s cordial courtship of Vladimir Putin provided the Russian president with a publicity coup days after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Putin and a key minister alleging they committed war crimes.
Under Xi, the People’s Republic of China has asserted itself on the international stage. For example, leveraging its economic influence, China recently brokered a resumption of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, a potentially positive development for peace and stability in the Middle East. But given its ever-closer relationship with Russia, China cannot credibly play the role of peacemaker in Ukraine.
Its 12-point peace plan — which Putin praised on Tuesday — says that the “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively upheld.” But its call for a “comprehensive cease-fire” and the resumption of peace talks would lock in Russian gains. On Monday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken warned: “Calling for a cease-fire that does not include the removal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory would effectively be supporting the ratification of Russian conquest.”
