© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A woman reacts as she walks through her neighborhood past apartment blocks destroyed during the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Mariupol, Russia-controlled Ukraine, February 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
BEIJING (Reuters) – China called for a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine on Friday and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was open to considering parts of a 12-point peace plan put forward by Beijing.
On the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Moscow’s ally China has urged both sides to agree to a gradual de-escalation, warned against using nuclear weapons and said the conflict benefits no one.
The plan, laid out in a Foreign Ministry document, was largely a reiteration of China’s line since Russia launched what it calls its “special military operation” on February 24 last year.
China has refrained from condemning its ally Russia or referring to Moscow’s intervention in its neighbor as an “invasion”. He has also criticized Western sanctions on Russia.
“All parties should remain rational and exercise restraint, avoid fanning the flames and escalating tensions, and prevent the crisis from deteriorating further or even spiraling out of control,” the ministry said in its document.
Kiev’s initial reaction was dismissive, with a top adviser to President Zelenskiy saying that any plan to end the war must involve withdrawing Russian troops to the borders that existed when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
However, Zelenskiy himself struck a more receptive tone at a press conference marking the first anniversary of the conflict.
Russia said it appreciated China’s plan and was open to achieving its goals through political and diplomatic means.
The proposals, however, cut little ice with NATO.
“China does not have much credibility because it has not been able to condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Tallinn.
‘NO TO NUCLEAR WAR’
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled he will double down on the conflict, despite major battlefield defeats last year, and has raised the specter of nuclear weapons.
China said that nuclear weapons should be avoided.
“Nuclear weapons must not be used and nuclear wars must not be waged,” the Foreign Ministry said. “We oppose the development, use of biological and chemical weapons by any country under any circumstances.”
Since the war began weeks after Beijing and Moscow announced a “no limits” partnership, President Xi Jinping has spoken regularly with Putin, but not once with his Ukrainian counterpart, Zelenskiy. China’s top diplomat Wang Yi visited Moscow for talks this week.
Brazil’s new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, stressed the need for an outsider-brokered peace deal.
“It is urgent that a group of countries not involved in the conflict assume the responsibility of leading the negotiations to restore peace,” Lula said on Twitter.
There was speculation that President Xi would deliver a “peace speech” on Friday, but that did not happen.