Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times President Trump declared this weekend’s Ukraine “peace summit” in Lucerne, Switzerland, a failure, highlighting why US President Joe Biden did not attend the summit despite being in Europe last week and why Vice President Kamala Harris, who attended in his place, also flew home early.
The Chinese Communist Party is one of Russia’s closest international allies, Remaining Russia, Ukraine’s largest trading partner, refused to take part in the summit and has reportedly secretly lobbied other countries not to attend as well.
President Volodymyr Zelensky called the Swiss peace summit, held on Saturday and Sunday, an attempt to show solidarity with his country as it marks the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, which reportedly brought together representatives of some 80 countries and more than 90 countries and organizations this weekend. Zelensky purposely did not invite Russia to the summit, making bilateral talks on how to end the conflict impossible.
The summit concluded with a joint statement. Signed 78 countries called on Russia to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and cease hostilities against the country. The Russian government had not responded meaningfully to the statement at the time of writing, and 24 hours after the summit, the situation on the battlefield appears unchanged.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy applauds after an official family photo shoot during the Ukrainian Peace Summit in Oburgen, Switzerland, Saturday, June 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
China refused to attend the summit in protest at Russia’s absence, and Zelenskiy called Beijing’s decision “disappointing” and suggested it was allowing China to become “a pawn of Russia.” [Vladimir] Despite being a “big, independent and powerful country,” he is referred to as “Putin.”
“China did not attend the peace summit and will not comment on the joint statement,” said Lin Jian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry. Said Press conference on Monday.
Contrary to this promise, China Global TimesHe is widely understood to be a mouthpiece for the Chinese government.
“It was clear to foreign dignitaries and media in attendance that the meeting was not as successful as claimed,” the state-run propaganda media outlet claimed in a column published on Sunday, citing regime-endorsed “analysts.”
Forever war: Zelensky, Western leaders reject Putin’s ceasefire proposal at Swiss peace summithttps://t.co/Y02VYwBMrf
—Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 16, 2024
“Despite the attendance of more than 90 countries, observers noted that the absence of Russia, a major regional player, the absence of China and the absence of U.S. President Joe Biden diminished the conference’s importance,” the media said. Times He also noted that Vice President Harris “left for the United States earlier than scheduled,” leaving only National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to represent Washington.
“On the second day of the conference, Sunday, Western and other nations condemned Russia and called for an agreement that would highlight the human cost of the conflict, Reuters reported.” Global Times The voiceover said: “However, some leaders left office early.”
Biden traveled to Italy last week to attend the annual G7 summit, to which Zelensky was also invited. Biden met with Zelensky at the event, Involved Biden signed a 10-year security agreement with Ukraine but returned to the US over the weekend, declining an invitation to a summit in Switzerland, instead opting to attend a campaign fundraiser in Hollywood this weekend hosted by George Clooney.
In another piece of analysis of Monday’s summit: Global Times Panned More than 90 countries sent representatives to the meeting, but Ukraine “sent invitations to more than 160 countries and international organizations,” he said, calling the meeting a failure. He also denounced reports published by Reuters last week, citing 10 unnamed diplomats, that the Chinese Communist Party was plotting a “subtle boycott” of the summit by lobbying other countries not to attend.
“In its talks with developing countries, China has not openly criticized the Swiss summit or directly asked countries to abstain,” Reuters claimed, “but a person briefed on the communications said Beijing has told developing countries that the meeting would prolong the war.”
of Global Times He criticised attempts to cover China’s diplomatic actions around the summit as an “inexplicable” attempt to blame China and that it was “never acceptable”.
“China supports a peace summit to try to resolve the crisis, but has repeatedly stressed that such a conference must have three key elements,” it said. Times It calls for “recognition of both Russia and Ukraine, equal participation of all parties, and fair discussion of all peace proposals.”
The reference to “all peace proposals” is a reference to China’sPeace PlanHe noted that both Russia and Ukraine have largely ignored calls for both sides to “calm down as soon as possible” and “cease hostilities.” Beijing has expressed public exasperation at the lack of global interest in its vague peace plan.
The Chinese “peace plan” was not officially discussed at the Swiss summit. In the end, the participants issued a joint statement reaffirming their opposition to the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine and calling for the conflict to be prevented from leading to food shortages and other humanitarian disasters. Said After the summit, Russia said the statement was the first step in drawing up a “detailed plan” to be handed over to Russia for approval for an end to hostilities.
