“Will China Be the Savior of the Russo-Ukrainian War? | CNBC Indonesia News”

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Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Russian-Ukrainian war has been ongoing since the Russian military operation erupted in 2022. Fighting is still fierce on the East Ukrainian front.

Many things have happened in recent times, including China starting a visit to Ukraine. China has always been expected to take real action in mediating the problems between Russia and Ukraine.

The reason is that Xi Jinping’s country is said to have important police in relations with President Vladimir Putin and is expected to influence Russia’s passing.

Savior of the Russo-Ukrainian War

Previously, the United States (US) Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said the prediction of a war between Russia and Ukraine would soon be peaceful. He said that the conflict in Ukraine may be approaching a turning point and peace between the two countries can be started from a proposal brokered by China’s “savior”.

To CBS NewsKissinger explained that the peace process between the two could begin at the end of 2023. He was optimistic that peace could occur because China had begun to actively contact Moscow and Kyiv to stop escalation.

“Now that China has entered negotiations, it will peak I think by the end of this year,” the 99-year-old diplomat was quoted as saying. Russia Today.

“At that point, we will talk about the negotiation process and even the actual negotiations,” he added.

China has put itself forward as a potential mediator by releasing its ‘Political Position for the Resolution of the Ukraine Crisis’ in February. President Xi Jinping has even contacted Moscow and Kyiv regarding this proposal.

China’s plan was rejected outright by the US and the European Union, while Putin described some of his 12 points as “aligned” with Moscow’s position. On the other hand, Ukraine only received a few points.

Even so, China faced a big stumbling block, where Zelesnky was said to be still reluctant to negotiate with Russia while still being led by Putin. Zelensky remains adamant on expelling Russia from his territory, including from the Crimean Peninsula which Moscow annexed in 2014.

Moscow has repeatedly said it is open to talks with Kyiv but only if Ukraine recognizes the realities on the ground, including the new status of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions as part of Russia. Otherwise, the Kremlin has stated, Russia will resolve the conflict by military means.

China’s Real Destination

Meanwhile, political analysts and China watchers note that, ultimately, Beijing does not really care who wins the war or what form a peace deal takes. What matters to Beijing, they say, is to be an international partner bringing Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table and brokering an end to the war.

“China is more focused on winning peace than on who won the war between Russia and Ukraine,” said Ryan Hass, a China expert at the Brookings Institution and formerly senior Asia director on the Obama administration’s National Security Council, citing CNBC International.

“Beijing wants to have a voice in determining the contours of Europe’s future security architecture. Beijing also wants to be seen as critical to the reconstruction of Ukraine and as a key actor in Europe’s broader recovery from conflict,” he added.

China is looking to build on recent successes in global diplomacy, particularly the mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia which saw the regional rivals resume diplomatic ties and reopen embassies in each other’s countries. Another attempt by China at a round of global diplomacy between Russia and Ukraine is not without vested interests, analysts note.

“Of course, China is not stepping into this diplomatic move because of an altruistic concern,” said Cheng Chen, professor of political science at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

“As China increasingly positions itself as a superpower, it has every incentive to demonstrate its diplomatic power as a global mediator, especially after its recent success in mediating between Iran and Saudi Arabia,” he added.

“In addition, China could further tie Russia to its side if it successfully brokers a deal that saves Russia’s face,” he added.

Another happy by-product of Chinese intervention is that it can attract the attention of the Global South. This is the term generally used to identify developing countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

“Most of the countries are not taking sides in the conflict, as well as some European powers who don’t want to see a protracted war drag on in Europe,” Chen said.

“To gain support from these countries, China wants to polish its image as a peacemaker as opposed to the US approach of ‘adding fuel to the fire,” he explained.

(fab/fab)