China Withdraws Support For Ukraine War Peace Talks

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that he would support an international Ukraine peace conference only if it’s recognized both by Moscow and Kiev with equal participation of all parties.

The upcoming Swiss-proposed talks are scheduled to take place on June 15-16 at the Burgenstock resort near Lucerne. More than 160 delegations from around the world have been invited to take part, including members of the G7, G20, BRICS, EU, and others. Russian diplomats are not among them.

Moscow has previously called the proposed conference “pointless” and said it would not participate, even if invited. Ukraine has indicated that Russia would only be invited if it agreed to a litany of preconditions which Moscow has branded as “absurd.”

In contrast to Beijing’s proposal to end the fighting, Kiev’s ten-point peace formula – first presented by Zelensky in the autumn of 2022 – demands the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russian forces from all territories Ukraine considers its own, for Moscow to pay reparations, and for a war crimes tribunal.

Russia has rejected the proposals as “unrealistic” and a sign of Kiev’s unwillingness to seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

Moscow has repeatedly said it is willing to resolve the Ukraine conflict peacefully but will not accept a deal that ignores its national interests.