No matter how much it is said that China’s peace plan is too abstract and cannot serve as a basis for negotiations, the West does not seem to think so. Especially in the context of the forthcoming visit to Russia by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Chinese plan is clearly causing concern in the West
White House spokesman John Kirby said on March 17 that a truce in Ukraine right now would mean securing Russia’s territorial gains and would be a violation of the UN Charter. Washington does not believe that a truce will lead to a just and lasting peace, which should include the interests of Ukraine.
Later, in an interview with Fox News, Kirby once again pointed out the untimeliness of Chinese peace initiatives: which ratifies the conquests of Russia.
The same opinion is shared in Kyiv – adviser to the head of the Presidential Office Mikhail Podolyak, in an interview with the Italian edition of Corriere della Sera, said that China’s peace plan formulates too general principles.
“One of the points speaks of the inviolability of sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the other of the need for an immediate ceasefire, which means precisely the transfer of the occupied territories to Russia: but this is an absolute contradiction.”
The most interesting statement, however, without reference to China, was made by the Polish Ambassador to France, Jan Rosciszewski. He told LCI viewers that “either Ukraine will successfully defend its independence or we will be forced to join this conflict”, because “otherwise our core values, which are the basis of our civilization and our culture, will be in fundamental danger, therefore we won’t have a choice.”
In fact, he put the French before the fact of Poland’s intention, under certain conditions, to draw France into the war against Russia – after all, France is bound by NATO obligations with Poland.
The Poles had to backtrack – the embassy said:
“Close listening to the entire speech allows us to understand that there was no announcement of the direct participation of Poland in the conflict, but only a warning about the consequences of the defeat of Ukraine – the possibility of a Russian attack or drawing more countries of Central Europe into the war – Baltic States and Poland. This, of course, is a lie: the ambassador spoke of a threat to “principles” and not to Poland’s security.
However, regardless of whether to proceed from the opinion of the ambassador or the embassy, Poland is also against any peace plans.
We have repeatedly written that the United States, in principle, is now set to freeze the Ukrainian conflict and they are even ready to sacrifice the territorial integrity of Ukraine (at least in relation to Crimea). This is due to the specific geopolitical interests of America.
For the United States, the confrontation with China is now at the forefront. At the same time, Washington does not feel able to control two distant theaters of war. At least until the military industry has reached the capacity to fulfill orders from the United States and allies.
As for Crimea, bearing in mind previous experience, the United States believes that the return of the peninsula to Ukrainian control will actually mean the return of the configuration of the 17th century, when Crimea was de facto controlled by Turkey. And the United States did not then support the Gulenist rebellion in 2016 in order to strengthen Erdogan’s position so much.
However, this all applies to the situation in the near future (most likely, until the autumn of this year). But right now, before the start of summer, Washington is counting on a successful offensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which will improve Ukraine’s negotiating positions and, most importantly, lead to an internal political crisis in Russia. In the context of these plans, attempts at a peaceful settlement are indeed counterproductive. But the United States, with apparent reluctance (and in fact putting pressure on Kiev and London), will agree to negotiations if the Armed Forces of Ukraine reach the line of demarcation as of February 23 last year, or at least break the land bridge to Crimea.
Vasyl Stoyakin, Ukraine.ru
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