China has never “fanned fire or fuelled the flames” of the Russia-Ukraine war, the Chinese foreign ministry has said.
The country believes all efforts should be recognised in supporting peace measures in the Russia-Ukraine war, spokeswoman Mao Ning said, addressing a question on an upcoming peace summit in Switzerland in mid-June.
The remarks follow an accusation by the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Russia and China are trying to weaken his planned global peace summit.
Mr Zelenskiy had on Sunday accused China of backing efforts to deter leaders from participating. “Regrettably, Russia, using Chinese influence on the region, using Chinese diplomats also, does everything to disrupt the peace summit,” he said.
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“It is unfortunate that such a big, independent, powerful country as China is an instrument in the hands of Putin,” Mr Zelenskiy added.
However, Ms Mao said on Monday that China attaches great importance to its relations with Ukraine and remains its largest trading partner, adding China’s position on the peace conference is very “open and transparent”.
“We believe that we can get the understanding and support of all parties,” Ms Mao said.
Mr Zelenskiy, who has urged world leaders to come to the peace conference, also said Donald Trump risks being a “loser president” if he wins November’s election and imposes a bad peace deal on Ukraine, and that it would mean the end of the US as a global “player”.
Elsewhere, Russia’s foreign ministry has warned the United States against making “mistakes that may have fatal consequences” in relation to permitting Ukraine to strike targets on Russian soil, Reuters reports citing the Interfax news agency.
Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Ukrainian attempts to attack Russian early-warning radar systems would be foiled and that Moscow may respond asymmetrically to such efforts.
The remarks follow a major shift in which US president Joe Biden on Thursday moved to allow Kyiv to use US weapons in counter-fire efforts within Russia near the border with the Kharkiv region.
The decision followed days of mounting pressure on Biden from western allies and Mr Zelenskiy, who argued the delay in the use of western weapons had cost lives. – Guardian