Chinese leader Xi Jinping has laid out four principles that he says are imperative to finally achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Xi proposed his new peace plan during a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday, which marked the 10th anniversary of what Chinese-state-owned outlet Xinhua called an "all-round strategic partnership" between Berlin and Beijing. China has long claimed to hold a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine, although its government has formed a close military relationship to Russia over the past two years.
According to Xinhua's report on the meeting between Xi and Scholz, the Chinese leader emphasized that all countries involved in the Ukraine war "should commit to an early restoration of peace to prevent the conflict from escalating and even spiraling out of control."
Xi also listed four key principles to ensure that peace is reached between Kyiv and Moscow: to focus on peace and stability rather than "selfish" gains, to cool down the situation in Ukraine rather than "add fuel to the fire," to establish conditions for restoring peace rather than aggravating the situation, and to reduce the negative impact that the war is having on the world economy.
Xinhua also reported that China "is not a party to the Ukraine crisis, but has consistently promoted talks for peace in its own way."
Newsweek on Tuesday reached out to Ukraine's Ministry on Foreign Affairs for comment on Xi's four-point plan.
Beijing presented a 12-point peace plan over a year ago that offered vague principles for ending the war in Ukraine. The plan was ill-received by Ukrainian and Western officials last spring.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, said earlier this month that he believed China's original proposal for reaching peace with Ukraine was the most "reasonable" one that has been presented, telling reporters on April 4, "The most important thing for us is that the Chinese document is based on an analysis of the reasons for what is happening and the need to eliminate these root causes. It is structured in logic from the general to the specific."
"This plan was criticized for being vague ... But this is a reasonable plan that the great Chinese civilization proposed for discussion," Lavrov added.
Ukraine has released its own 10-point peace plan ending its war against Russia, which includes calls for a cease-fire and restoration of Ukraine's territory to Kyiv's control, including the Crimean Peninsula.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, has demanded that Ukraine accept the "new territorial realities." Moscow occupies large swaths of Ukraine's southern and eastern territories, and Putin has repeatedly dismissed the idea that Ukraine is a sovereign state.
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Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more
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