Comparing the efforts of China and the US to settle the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it quickly becomes clear who is playing what role. While China’s top foreign policy leader, Wang Yi, now wants to mediate in Moscow after talks with the Ukrainian foreign minister, the US side is still concentrating on promising military aid and adding fuel to the fire.
Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi left for a visit to Russia on Tuesday after traveling to France, Italy, Hungary and Germany. According to analysts, China is trying to mediate by working with all relevant parties in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while the US, on the other hand, continues to pour fuel on the fire.
Wang held talks with Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, in Moscow on Tuesday, Russian news outlet Sputnik reported. Shortly before that, US President Joe Biden visited Kiev on Monday, where he announced new military aid worth US$ 500 million. According to experts, Biden’s trip was not just about boosting morale on the Ukrainian battlefield, but rather a “political show”, which, however, had nothing to do with conflict mediation.
“Some western media are comparing recent diplomatic activities between the US and China, trying to portray the situation as if there is a bloc confrontation between the US and China. This is why US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and some other Western diplomats are issuing nonsensical ‘warnings’ to China not to supply Russia with arms,” Cui Heng, a research fellow at East China Normal University, described the current situation in the Global Times. However, China and Russia have already made it clear that their relations are not directed against third parties and that China has the right to cooperate with Russia. The US therefore has no right to point fingers at Sino-Russian relations, Cui said.
Before his trip to Moscow, Wang, director of the office of the Central Commission on Foreign Affairs, also met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on the sidelines of the 59th Munich Security Conference.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he said during the call, “Ukraine and China have kept in touch throughout the past year,” and “Ukraine appreciates China’s status and important influence on the international stage, as well as China’s stance on a political solution to the crisis.” Ukraine expects China to continue its constructive role.”
According to Cui, this exchange proves that China is trying to mediate between the parties.
“The main purpose of Wang’s trip is to advance bilateral cooperation in the face of global economic challenges and prepare for higher-level official exchanges,” said Zhang Hong, a research fellow at the Institute of Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
He criticized the US and its allies for looking at the conflict between Russia and Ukraine through “colored glasses”. “It seems that everyone who talks to Russia is on Moscow’s side in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.”
The Munich Security Conference was supposed to be a platform for mediation, but the US and the West as a whole had severed almost all ties with Russia and instead were only interested in increasing arms supplies to further escalate the war.
