China lacks credibility to broker ceasefire, says Nato chief after claims of kamikaze drone deal
Western leaders question motives behind Beijing’s peace plan after failure to condemn illegal invasion
NATO’S top official yesterday told China it lacked the “credibility” to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine amid fears Beijing is preparing to supply kamikaze drones to Moscow.
Western leaders were quick to question China’s motives after it published a 12-point plan for peace in Ukraine to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion.
Intelligence shared among Nato allies has raised fears that Beijing is considering the possibility of sending weapons to aid Moscow’s war machine.
The shipment could include as many as 100 kamikaze drones that can carry warheads of up to 110Ibs, similar to the Iranian-made Shahed-136, according to German magazine Der Spiegel.
Xian Bingo Intelligent Aviation, a Chinese company, was reported to be in talks over the initial sale of 100 drones to Moscow as well as deliver the knowhow so Russia can independently produce another 100 each month. Nato, the UK and European Union said that there was a lack of trust in Beijing’s plan for peace because of its failure to condemn the war and apparent attempt to arm Russia.
“China does not have much credibility because they have not been able to condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine,” Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary-general, said.
Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, said: “It can’t help the peace if China effectively supplies the one nation that has broken the international law on the sovereignty of Ukraine and been inflicting war crimes. But I’m also confident that China is pretty clear that it wants this [war] to stop.”
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has previously said that the US believes China is “considering providing lethal support”to Moscow, and that would “cause a serious problem for us and in our relationship.”
On Friday CNN reported that negotiations between Russia and China about the price and scope of equipment were ongoing, but that Beijing does not appear to have made a final decision yet.
Alicia Kearns, head of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: “I don’t believe China wants to arm Putin and become an active combatant in Putin’s crimes against humanity. China has repeatedly refused to back Russia at the UN, [or] endorse Putin’s renewed illegal invasion. Any decision to arm Putin now would make China culpable as an enabler of crimes against humanity.”
Beijing’s 885-word “political settlement” plan was careful to refrain from describing Moscow’s actions as an “invasion”, instead calling it “the Ukraine crisis”. Rather than present concrete details to achieve a resolution, Beijing demanded an end to Western sanctions against Russia.
China also called for nuclear facilities to be secured and for humanitarian relief, food exports, and reconstruction.
It also warned against the use of nuclear weapons in the war.
“We will look at the principles, of course, but we will look at them against the backdrop that China has taken sides,” said Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission’s president.
In the year since Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, ordered the invasion of Ukraine, China has attempted to appear neutral while blaming Washington and Nato for escalating the conflict.
Beijing and Moscow are considered close allies, and in recent days pledged to further strengthen those ties.
The two countries’ “no-limits” bond has seen China refuse to criticise Russia, or Putin, for instigating war.
Wang Yi, China’s most senior diplomat, recently concluded a two-day visit in Moscow, where he met with Putin, but appeared to make little headway on pushing the peace plan.
Earlier this week, Chinese diplomats and state media issued comments that accused the US of “fuelling the fire”, a retort after Washington said that it warned Beijing against providing Moscow with weapons.
Zhanna Leshchynska, charge d’affaires of Ukraine’s embassy in Beijing, ruled out a ceasefire on China’s terms because it would freeze the conflict along the current front line.
“Our view is that Russia should unconditionally withdraw all of its forces from the territory of Ukraine,” she told reporters.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said: “China started talking about Ukraine and that’s not bad. It seems to me that there is respect for our territorial integrity, security issues.”
He added that he expected to have face-to-face talks with the Chinese leader, but did not say when. “I plan to meet Xi Jinping and believe this will be beneficial for our countries and for security in the world,” he said.