Recently, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a clear statement regarding whether China will attend the upcoming Ukraine peace summit.
China expressed that it takes the summit seriously and has been in close communication with all parties involved.
China emphasized that the peace summit must meet three core elements:
first, it needs to be mutually recognized by both Russia and Ukraine; second, all participants should have equal status;
and third, various peace proposals should be discussed fairly.
If these conditions are not met, the actual significance of the summit will be greatly diminished.
China further noted that based on the feedback and arrangements received so far, these three elements seem difficult to achieve.
Therefore, given the significant gap between the meeting arrangements and China's expectations as well as the broad expectations of the international community, China finds it difficult to participate in the summit.
Although China does not plan to attend the meeting, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was very subtle in explaining the reasons for the refusal, concluding only with the phrase "difficult to participate."
These four words convey China's seriousness about the peace summit while implying that China is willing to participate under the right conditions.
They also highlight issues with the organization of the meeting, particularly the failure of the West and Ukraine to meet China's conditions, especially the lack of an invitation to Russia, which has resulted in China being unable to attend.
It's worth noting that the Chinese spokesperson did not explicitly use the word "refuse" at any point.
However, neither Western media nor Russian officials fully grasped this nuanced diplomatic language.
For instance, Western media outlets like Reuters directly reported "China refuses to attend the meeting," while Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Moscow supports China's decision not to attend the Swiss peace summit because such activities are meaningless without Russia's participation.
The Ukraine peace summit is expected to open in Switzerland in mid-June.
In fact, Ukraine proposed the peace summit back in January this year and invited China to attend.
However, China remained silent on whether it would attend, neither explicitly accepting nor rejecting the invitation.
During this period, both Russia and Ukraine have competed fiercely to gain China's support.
Russia hopes China will not attend the meeting because Ukraine stated at the outset that Russia would not be invited and that the summit would discuss peace plans requiring Russia to fully withdraw to the 1991 borders.
Since January, Russia has continually emphasized its support for China's peace position paper and highly praised China's constructive role in the Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
The mentioned peace position paper is China's document "China's Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis," released on the first anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and widely referred to as China's "peace plan."
Recently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explicitly stated, "Russia supports China hosting a peace conference attended by both Russia and Ukraine, continuing China's efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis."
Russia's intent is clear: it hopes China will not participate in Ukraine's peace summit but instead host its own meeting, which Russia would fully support.
Ukraine has also taken action. On the 18th of last month, Ukrainian President Zelensky stated that the Ukrainian peace conference in Switzerland could reach consensus on three areas: the export of Black Sea grain, cessation of attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and the repatriation of children taken to Russia.
He expressed confidence that most countries could agree on these three points.
The summit originally planned to discuss Ukraine's "10-point peace plan" proposed in October 2022.
However, the clause in this plan requiring the complete withdrawal of Russian troops to the 1991 borders is too radical for most developing countries, which typically maintain a neutral stance, including China.
Therefore, Ukraine opted to focus on a more moderate selection of three points from the "10-point peace plan" for discussion at the Swiss peace summit, hoping to attract more non-Western countries, particularly China.
Kyiv understands the role of China in the Ukraine crisis and its importance to Russia.
Drawing China into its peace summit would be a significant diplomatic victory for Ukraine.
However, China's decision not to participate in this summit reflects careful consideration.
Objectively, a peace conference without Russia's involvement is unlikely to achieve substantive results.
Furthermore, with President Putin's recent visit to China elevating China-Russia relations to new heights, there is no need for China to disrupt this favorable diplomatic atmosphere.
The Ukraine peace summit is not a one-time event, and there will be future opportunities to participate.
Therefore, it is hoped that the Zelensky administration can understand China's difficulties and position.
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