Chinese President Xi Jinping is concerned about the situation in Ukraine after Russia invaded the country.
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It reports Reuters, which refers to Chinese state media. They also report that the president called for “maximum restraint” to avoid a humanitarian crisis, and that he believes that the priority now should be to prevent the situation in Ukraine from getting out of control.
Xi, who on Tuesday spoke at a virtual meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, also said that the three countries should jointly support peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
The Chinese president called the war “very disturbing” and stressed that Ukraine and Russia must maintain the will to negotiate and continue the talks so that they achieve results.
Comment: China can push Putin
–A little concrete
A Chinese spokesman said the same day that China would like to play a constructive role, but he was not very specific about the possibility of the country playing a more prominent broker role.
“We want to play a constructive role in promoting peace talks, and when necessary we are ready to work with the world community to carry out mediation with the world community,” said Zhao Lijian, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
In Western countries, there has been disappointment that China has not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
At the same time, EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell has acknowledged that China, unlike European countries, may be able to act as a mediator.
–Restrained
China has so far been very reluctant to comment on Russia’s war in Ukraine. When the UN voted on a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demanding that Russian forces withdraw from the country, China, as one of 35 countries, chose to abstain.
Ahead of Russia’s invasion, Russian leader Vladimir Putin traveled to Beijing during the opening of the Olympics to meet with Xi Jinping. Here the two presidents signed several major trade agreements, including on gas and oil.
On Monday, China expressed that, unlike the West, it does not intend to push Russia out into the cold.
In a statement from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, he described relations with Russia as follows, according to Reuters:
– The friendship between China and Russia remains rocky.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine twelve days ago, Western countries have imposed heavy sanctions on the country. Experts believe it gives China more influence over Russia.
Think China can influence
Asian researcher Stein Tønnesson at the Department of Peace Research (PRIO) told VG this week that he believes Xi may be personally concerned about Putin despite the fact that China has not publicly condemned the invasion.
China is not thrilled about the invasion. They fear consequences for themselves. The main effect will be a weakened world economy and China will lose money on that, said Asian researcher Tønnesson.
When asked about who Putin can listen to in the hope of ending the war, senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Policy (NUPI) Helge Blakkisrud answered the following:
– China’s Xi Jinping is the one who has the greatest opportunity to influence Putin and the Kremlin.
He says the other non-Western leaders Putin met in the time just before the invasion are important, but none of them are in a market that could cover the loss of Europe as a trading partner.
– Only China’s Xi Jinping has control, Blakkisrud emphasizes.
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