Western countries cannot tell Beijing what to do with Russia in connection with the war in Ukraine, Chinese Ambassador to Moscow Zhang Hanhui said on Friday in an interview with the Russian newspaper “Izvestia”, writes Politico.eu, citing News. .ro.

“It was not the Chinese side that created the Ukrainian crisis, the People’s Republic of China is not part of this crisis and has not supplied weapons to any of the parties to the conflict,” Zhang Hanhui said. “The West is not in a position to give directives to China, and even more so, it does not have the authority to hold it accountable,” Zhang added.

Despite being one of Moscow’s main allies, China has sought to position itself as a neutral mediator between Russia and Ukraine, presenting a 12-point peace plan in February. But on the other hand, there were growing fears that Beijing could supply weapons to Russia. Last month, Politico reported that Chinese firms, including one linked to the Beijing government, sent 1,000 assault rifles, drone parts and body armor to Russian organizations.

The statements of the Chinese ambassador were made in the context of the joint visit of French President Emmanuel Macron and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to Beijing. On Thursday, the two leaders called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to step up efforts at reconciliation — albeit in different ways, Politico noted.

Macron took a softer line, telling Xi that he personally counted on the Chinese leader to “bring Russia back to its senses”, while Ursula von der Leyen’s approach was more direct. The president of the European Commission warned about the supply of weapons to Moscow: “Arming an aggressor is a clear violation of international law – he should never be armed,” she said.

“This will really damage the relationship between the European Union and China,” von der Leyen added.

But Xi Jinping seems unfazed by these efforts and has remained true to Beijing’s assessment of the war in Ukraine, which closely mirrors Russia’s position, Politico writes.

“Peace talks should resume as soon as possible, taking into account the reasonable security concerns of all parties, citing the UN Charter,” the Chinese leader said.

The statements of the Chinese ambassador to Russia on Friday were very similar. “What the Chinese side is doing can be described in one sentence: calling for peace and promoting negotiations,” Zhang said.

What the Chinese ambassador to the European Union said

On the other hand, the statements of the Chinese ambassadors, representatives of diplomacy par excellence, seem to be rhetorically adapted depending on the capital where they are located. For example, a few days ago, the statement of China’s ambassador to the European Union, Fu Cun, caused a stir. In an interview with The New York Times, he said that his country is not on Russia’s side in the war in Ukraine. “Partnership without limits is nothing more than rhetoric,” he said, referring to a statement last year that characterized relations between China and Russia.

In an hour-long interview ahead of a visit by European officials to Beijing, China’s diplomat to the European Union said critics had misinterpreted his country’s relationship with Russia and suggested their ties may not be as limitless as their leaders once claimed.

Just three weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping signed a joint statement declaring that the friendship between their countries “knows no boundaries.” But Ambassador Fu Tsung assured that Beijing was not on Russia’s side in the war and that some people are “deliberately misinterpreting this because there is a so-called friendship or relationship without limits”. He added: “No Limits is nothing more than rhetoric.” The Chinese ambassador also emphasized that his country does not recognize Russia’s attempts to annex Ukrainian territories, particularly Crimea and Donbas.

Beijing has not condemned the invasion, he said, because it understands Russia’s claims of a defensive war against a NATO invasion and because its government believes “the root causes of this war are more complex” than Western leaders say.

The ambassador also defended the fact that Xi Jinping has not yet called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. He insisted that the lack of a call was not a big deal, that the Chinese leader was very busy and that there had been frequent low-level contact between the two countries. However, Western analysts contrast this lack of communication between Xi and Zelensky with the close contact between the Chinese leader and Putin, which was evident during Xi’s visit to Moscow last month. “The fact that President Xi does not speak with Zelensky does not mean that China is on Russia’s side in the Ukrainian issue,” the Chinese ambassador assured.

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