Chinese President Xi Jinping he will face serious obstacles if he tries to hasten its end. war her Russia V Ukraine. First of all, this is due to the fact that neither side is ready to stop fighting, reports the Associated Press in its analysis.

Xi’s plan to send an envoy to Ukraine allows his administration to fend off criticism of its support for Moscow and push for a more prominent role as a diplomatic power.

His announcement, made Wednesday in a phone call with Vladimir Zelensky, was an optimistic sign that Beijing can use its close ties to Russia and Vladimir Putin to bring about peace. At the same time, however, there was skepticism about whether the Chinese side was really interested in stopping the invasion, which it refused to condemn, or whether it was simply promoting its own interests.

It is noted that it all began with a peace proposal from Beijing in February, which called for a ceasefire, negotiations and an end to sanctions against Russia. However, he gave no further details, but reiterated Russian claims that Western governments were responsible for the invasion.

China has good reason to want an end to the war, as its economy has reeled from rising oil, grain and other commodity prices. Beijing also warned on Wednesday of the danger of nuclear war after Russia had earlier announced it would transfer nuclear weapons to Belarus.

“China’s interest is in ending the war,” said John Delury, an international relations expert at Yonsei University in Seoul.

“It is not in Beijing’s interests to see Russia humiliated, but not triumphant either,” he notes. “The best option is a ceasefire and with it the economic opportunities to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war.”

However, Wednesday’s announcement gave no indication of what China might offer to resolve issues between Russia and Ukraine, including Crimea.

The goal is a “gap” between the EU and the EU. and USA

It is also possible that, playing the role of a peacemaker, Beijing is trying to separate its European allies from the US, which Xi accuses of trying to interfere with the economic and political development of his country.

At the same time, Beijing is trying to mend relations with Europe after the reaction caused by the statement of the Chinese ambassador to France, which called into question the national sovereignty of former Soviet countries such as Ukraine, as well as EU members. such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

“Efforts to create a “gap” between the US and European partners are an important goal. [για το Πεκίνο]”, — says Alexander Gabuev from the think tank of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “To do this, China will have to pretend to be a power actively seeking peace.”

Beijing does not always support Putin

In addition, Wednesday’s announcement gave Beijing a chance to show that it does not always agree with Moscow, although Western critics continue to point out that the Chinese side is buying Russian oil and gas, helping Putin to deal with the impact of sanctions, as well as providing him with political support.

The Xi Jinping administration sees the Kremlin as a partner in the fight against US dominance in international affairs. In a joint statement ahead of the invasion of Ukraine, Xi and Putin said their friendship “knows no boundaries” and in March, their countries’ navies held joint exercises with Iran.

However, the Chinese government says that the relationship between the two sides is not “allied” in nature. Beijing even pledged not to send weapons to either of the two belligerents in Ukraine.

“China has never been on the side of one side,” said Da Wei, an international relations expert at Tsinghua University in Beijing. “Which Western leaders are in touch with both sides?” he says. “I believe this is proof of China’s fair and objective intention to promote peace talks.”

Little hope for negotiations

The Zelenskiy government said in a statement that the conversation with Xi would likely lead to “possible communication aimed at achieving a just and sustainable peace for Ukraine.” Zelenskiy even said he invited Xi to Ukraine on March 29, but neither side has confirmed if this will actually happen.

Despite the above, political scientists report that there is little chance of progress. It is even estimated that Ukraine is preparing for a counter-offensive to recapture territories that Russia has placed under its control.

A possible solution is “perhaps in years, even decades, since the gap between the positions of Russia and Ukraine is still large,” Gabuev said.

Xi Yinghong, an international relations expert at Renmin University in Beijing, noted that the Russian Foreign Ministry said peace talks were “nearly impossible,” while Zelensky stressed to Xi the importance of returning all territory captured by the Russians.

“It appears that neither side has really agreed with the Chinese initiative, which is far from what they are aiming for,” Xi said.

^{Source: Associated Press.}