German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Urges Xi Jinping to Reduce China’s Economic Aid to Russia and Push for Peace Talks on Ukraine

The Russian army is currently operating in Ukraine to attack the defense forces of Ukraine However, the results achieved so far are gradual and come at a high cost in manpower and material resources. German officials say a reduction in Chinese aid could be decisive in bringing Moscow back to the negotiating table.

Many Western politicians and analysts believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to seize more territory in Ukraine and will not negotiate before the US election in November. Some Western allies, such as Britain, are reluctant to force Ukraine to negotiate directly with Russia, fearing that Russia’s aim remains to replace the government in Kiev with a stronger one. to the demands of the Kremlin.

In February, Putin told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the West, not Kiev, should negotiate with Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the draft peace agreement proposed by Russia in March 2022 should be the basis for new military negotiations.

But although Russia now has the upper hand, the battle lines have not changed much in months, and a decisive military victory for both sides is expected anytime soon. Along with the rising costs of the war, it seems likely that the war will have to be ended through negotiations sooner or later.

The West has in the past failed to get China’s support for diplomatic solutions. While the Chinese government is not believed to be supplying weapons directly to Moscow, Western officials say Chinese companies are supplying dual-use products, such as electronic components and chemicals that are key components. of weapons, and that they are helping Russia to maintain and rebuild its military.

Fabrice Pothier, a former senior NATO official who now advises the government in Kyiv, said that China is financially supporting Putin’s war, so it is essential to get China’s support for efforts to end the attack.

Pothier said: “It is important that Scholz makes it clear that no neutral solution will work for Ukraine, not for Ukrainians and even more for Putin, who does not accept Ukrainian sovereignty at all.”

After China sent a series of gestures to European countries that they wanted to intervene economically after the conflicts caused by the coronavirus pandemic, some Western governments are now calling for a trade war supported by Russia with China, according to several Western officials Negotiations could begin before the end of this year.

In recent months, Chinese diplomats have contacted Ukrainian and Russian officials about the possibility of resuming peace talks, according to officials in several countries, along with Turkey, which has also indicated that they are willing to hold discussions. Earlier talks between Kiev and Moscow, which broke down in the summer of 2022, were mostly held in Istanbul.

After that Ukraine established a forum called “Peace Gathering” with non-Western countries, including China, India and Saudi Arabia, several countries with better relations with Russia . Members have been holding talks for almost a year, but China has only attended one meeting and Moscow has not yet been invited.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a recent interview that diplomats from various countries participating in the summit could soon submit a peace plan to Russia. Zelensky has said he would negotiate with Russia only in forums involving Xi Jinping and that China would have to act as a guarantor of any potential deal, according to people familiar with the matter. familiar with previous discussions.

The US government recently said that China has stepped up its efforts to provide non-lethal aid to Russia that could be used in the manufacture of weapons. However, German officials said that China’s refusal to provide Moscow with any weapons and ammunition two years after the war began shows that the Chinese government has not yet made a choice and may still go to war. Putin’s attack.

“China is still walking a tightrope,” said a senior official.

In particular, China has not yet completed the expansion of the Russian natural gas import pipeline which is in the early stages of construction, even as Russia, which no longer sells natural gas to Europe, trying to find new customers. A senior Kremlin official who recently visited Beijing said the Chinese government is temporarily stalling, aiming to maintain its influence over Putin in order to pressure Putin to end the war if he has caused too much damage. to do on the Chinese economy.

In recent months, several people close to the Kremlin have begun working through informal channels to restart talks, trying to use peace talks that finally collapsed in 2022 as a baseline. for final approval. During the talks, Russia proposed withdrawing its troops from parts of Ukraine on the condition that Ukraine limit the size of its troops and refrain from receiving Western military aid.

Chinese diplomats have been discussing possible talks with senior officials from Ukraine, Russia and Western countries in recent months, including a series of visits in early March. However, as these officials were young diplomats and did not appear to have received clear instructions from Xi Jinping, most Western governments questioned this round of activity. .

Xi Jinping holds regular talks with Putin, but he has spoken to Zelensky only once since the war between Russia and Ukraine began and so far he has rejected Ukrainian requests for a meeting.

According to people familiar with the above discussions, Ambassador Li Hui, the special representative for Eurasian affairs, led a Chinese delegation to Kiev and received a cold reception from Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff. Yermak gave a short presentation to his Chinese guests, showing evidence of Chinese components found in weapons such as drones used by Russia to attack Ukraine.