OUR Chinese leadership trying to get close to her Europeafter the pandemic and despite American pressure, but this time through Ukraine.

This is how the latest actions of the Chinese side on European soil are interpreted by the international media (Financial Times, Gzero, etc.).

High-ranking Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, a few days before the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, made a mini-tour of Europe with stops in France, Italy, Hungary, Munich and … Moscow.

First visit after the invasion

Wang Yi met with Putin in the Russian capital on February 22, becoming the first senior Chinese official to visit Russia since a year of war in Ukraine. Putin himself, for his part, said that Chinese President Xi Jinping is also going to visit Russia in the coming months.

By comparison, at the same time that Wang was in Moscow, US President Joe Biden was meeting in Poland with the “Bucharest Nine,” as the nine members of NATO’s eastern wing are called. However, one leader was not present at the said meeting with Biden, and that was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Before Wang Yi’s visit to Moscow, Western officials sounded the alarm that Beijing was preparing to send weapons to Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.

Claims to be a peacemaker

However, the Chinese side tried, for its part, to present a different profile, claiming the role of a peacekeeper in the Ukrainian one. If what has been circulated as scenarios proves to be true, then Chinese President Xi Jinping may tomorrow, on the anniversary of the end of one year of war, present his own Chinese peace plan. It is worth noting, of course, that in the last twelve months, Xi has never spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Regardless of the practical content of any plan, the Chinese leadership could, acting as a “responsible peacemaker”, increase its prestige in the international arena. After all, there are many countries at the international level and in Europe itself that would like to see this war ended as soon as possible through compromises. Xi Jinping could enhance the image of the Chinese leadership in the eyes of these countries while criticizing Biden and the US for sending weapons systems to Ukraine. Thus, the Chinese leadership could try to drive a wedge between the Europeans and the Americans.

Essentially, of course, and apart from any Chinese dispositions, practice will judge everything. If Beijing’s as yet unclear peace plan succeeds, the Chinese leadership will score points in the international arena. If it fails or does not reach the implementation stage, then it will also fail as an intermediary.

“We should have no illusions about China”

However, Western officials argue that we should not have any “delusions” about China’s position on the Ukrainian issue for now.

“We should not have any illusions about China until it has turned against Russia,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview with ZDF television.

However, Western analysts emphasize that the only power that can have a significant impact on Moscow is China.