said the Chinese president Xi JinpingOn Monday, Beijing’s proposal on how to reach a settlement in Ukraine reflects global views and contributes to averting the consequences of the crisis, but he acknowledged that the solutions may not be easy.
Xi, at the start of his visit to Moscow, the first for a world leader since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, also called for a “pragmatic” approach on Ukraine.
China’s proposal, a 12-point paper it issued last month, represented “the greatest possible unity of views of the international community,” Xi wrote in an article published in Russian by the Russian government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
He explained that “the document serves as a constructive factor in averting the consequences of the crisis and supporting the political settlement. Complex problems do not have simple solutions.”
Xi seeks to present China as a global peacemaker and a responsible great power. In public, China has maintained neutrality in the Ukraine conflict, while criticizing Western sanctions against Russia and reaffirming its close ties with Moscow.
The United States and NATO recently said that China is considering supplying weapons to Russia, and warned Beijing against such a move. China denied this.
Xi wrote that a peaceful solution to the situation in Ukraine would also “guarantee the stability of global production and supply chains.”
He called for a “rational approach” to get out of the crisis, which can be “reached if everyone is guided by the concept of collective, comprehensive, shared and sustainable security, and to continue dialogue and consultations with a kind of equality, wisdom and pragmatism.”
Xi said his visit to Russia aims to enhance friendship between the two countries and “comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction” in a world threatened by “acts of tyranny, tyranny and bullying.”
“There is no global model of government, and there is no world order in which one country has the final word… global solidarity and peace without divisions and unrest is in the common interest of all mankind,” Xi wrote.