Ukraine is facing a difficult situation with China’s involvement in the Russian invasion. Here are the key points:
**China’s peace plan**: In February 2023, China proposed a peace plan for Ukraine and Russia, which was largely criticized in the West as being too favorable to Moscow.
**Zelensky’s response**: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he agreed with only some of China’s points, but Kyiv felt that Beijing was not doing enough to pressure Russia into stopping the war.
**China snubs Ukraine’s invitation**: A year later, China snubbed an invitation from Ukraine to attend a Global Peace Summit in Switzerland, which was attended by nations supportive of Ukraine’s peace formula.
**Beijing’s response**: China announced that over two dozen countries backed its peace plan, but Zelensky accused Beijing of “working hard” to prevent other countries from attending the summit.
**Ukraine’s frustrations**: Zelensky’s frustrations reached a boiling point in June 2023, when he accused China of preventing countries from coming to the peace summit.
**China’s interests**: Dr. Marina Rudyak, an international development consultant and lecturer at Heidelberg University’s Center for Asian and Transcultural Studies, said that China wants to maintain stability on its border with Russia and keep Russia stable, as anything else is more unpredictable.
**Ukraine’s new approach**: After several attempts to engage with Chinese officials in Ukraine failed, Kyiv realized it needed a different approach. When Ukraine captured Chinese soldiers on April 8, Beijing denied involvement, but Kyiv saw an opportunity to put its foot down.
**New sanctions**: Ukraine has imposed new sanctions on Chinese companies involved in Russian weapons production and two Chinese captains sailing sanctioned vessels.
**China’s response**: China has not publicly responded to the sanctions aside from calling the accusations “groundless.” Tensions escalated when Kyiv presented evidence of Chinese citizens and companies to the Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Ma Shengkun.
**Ukraine wants dialogue**: Ukraine wants to open up dialogue with China so that tensions don’t boil over. The country is powerful and could be a possible mediator between Ukraine and Russia if Kyiv can win it over.
**China’s partnership with Russia**: President Xi Jinping seemed to ignore Ukraine’s message by sitting next to President Putin during Moscow’s Victory Day Parade, where the two leaders reiterated their partnership in a joint statement and announced deeper cooperation, including in military ties.
