Russian retreat is only road to peace, China’s envoy told
Polish deputy minister also warns visiting Li Hui against providing military support to Moscow
Peace in Ukraine can only be achieved through the withdrawal of Russian troops and return of “unlawfully seized territories”, envoy Li Hui has been told in Poland.
Polish deputy foreign minister Wojciech Gerwel also warned Li of “grave consequences for the bilateral relationship between Europe and China” if Beijing gave military support to Russia.
Li, a veteran diplomat selected by President Xi Jinping to oversee Beijing’s peacemaking efforts, met Gerwel and other Polish officials in Warsaw on Friday following a two-day visit to Kyiv.
In both capitals, he was given near-identical messages, focused on the view that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s peace plan is the only legitimate way to end the 15-month war.
“We support President Zelensky’s peace plan as the basis for resolving the conflict,” Gerwel said, according to a readout from the Polish foreign ministry.
“The withdrawal of Russian troops and the return of unlawfully seized territories by Russia are the only acceptable solution to achieve a just peace.”
A Chinese account of the meeting, released a few hours after the Polish one, stuck closely to previous talking points from the ministry of foreign affairs.
Li – who spent 10 years as ambassador to Russia – underscored China’s support for its own peace proposal, unveiled in February, which critics in Europe have said did not differentiate between the aggressor and the targeted.
“Li Hui said that the escalation and protraction of the Ukrainian crisis is not in the interests of all parties. China hopes that the war will subside as soon as possible and the peace talks can be restarted,” according to the note.
It added that China would look for a “political solution to the crisis, and gradually accumulate consensus and lay a solid foundation for the ceasefire and cessation of war”.
Poland, which has been among Europe’s strongest backers of Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, added pressure on Li’s delegation to do more to end the war.
Gerwel noted “with concern Beijing’s declarations concerning its persistent will to strengthen its bilateral relations with Russia, the aggressor state”, according to the account. Warsaw also asked for “concrete help” from China in securing the “safe functioning of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia”.
Gerwel – formerly Warsaw’s ambassador to Vietnam – requested that China “never recognise” Ukrainian territories illegally annexed by Russia, “just as it has not recognised the annexation of Crimea from 2014”.
Justyna Szczudlik, a China analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, said Warsaw had issued “a de facto” open rejection of China’s 12-point plan and “full support for the idea that Ukraine should decide what the victory and the end of war means”.
“The Polish ministry has effectively confronted China with its own principles and norms, such as non-interference, the five principles of peaceful coexistence, territorial integrity,” Szczudlik said.
Li will next travel to western Europe for meetings in Berlin, Paris and Brussels, where he will meet European Union officials, before ending his trip in Moscow.
In each of the western European capitals, officials said, he could expect a similar response.
On Wednesday, the respective governments coordinated their positions by telephone ahead of Li’s whistle-stop tour, according to people familiar with the discussions.
In Kyiv last Tuesday, Li met Zelensky, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. However, Ukraine’s official account said the meeting was handled by the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak.
Yermak and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tried to convince Li of the virtues of Ukraine’s own peace plan, Kyiv said.
“We are interested in China being involved in the implementation of the Ukrainian peace formula,” Yermak said.
Zelensky travelled to Saudi Arabia on Friday, where he addressed a meeting of the Arab League, before flying to Japan yesterday.
He was to address the Group of Seven leaders summit in Hiroshima today.
Zelensky’s surprise G7 appearance – he had previously been expected to appear by video – came after he welcomed a “historic” White House decision to allow Ukraine to get F-16 fighter aircraft.
Until now, United States President Joe Biden has effectively vetoed the transfer of the fighters, with American officials warning of long pilot training times and the risk of escalating the conflict with Russia.
The Polish ministry has effectively confronted China with its own principles
ANALYST JUSTYNA SZCZUDLIK