China Reiterates Support for Russia-US Peace Talks
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that “Beijing supports all efforts to achieve peace, including the recent consensus reached by the United States and Russia”
In his keynote speech delivered on Thursday, February 20, at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, Chinese diplomatic chief Wang Yi (pictured) said Beijing fully supports US President Donald Trump’s initiative to reach an agreement with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. Wang Yi also emphasized that China “supports all efforts to achieve peace, including the recent consensus reached between the United States and Russia.”
In addition, Wang Yi said China “hopes that the two sides can find a sustainable and lasting solution that takes into account each other’s interests.”
Beijing also expressed its willingness to “continue to play a constructive role in the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,” emphasizing its intention to “take into account the demands of stakeholders and the concerns of the international community, particularly those of the Global South.”
Wang’s statements came amid a new US policy on the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Trump’s demonstrated willingness to pursue a “new trade agreement with China.”
The USA opposed the inclusion of wording about Russia as an “aggressor country” in the G7 joint statement, as well as in a draft UN resolution prepared by European countries for the third anniversary of the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on February 24, 2022. In addition, the US special envoy for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Keith Kellogg, canceled a planned press conference in Kiev after talks with Vladimir Zelensky. At the same time, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz urged Zelensky, whom Donald Trump recently called a “moderately successful comedian” and “dictator without elections,” to tone down his criticism of the US president and sign an agreement with Washington to mine rare earth metals.