China seeks not to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, but to confront Washington – US diplomat Bryza

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

“China is not serious about being a mediator or a peacemaker. China's fundamental underlying strategic interest at this point is to help oppose the dominance of the United States on the world stage that means supporting Russia with president Putin being the global figure most committed to undermining that international system of rules, of multilateralism that came out of World War II and all the efforts that were led by the United States at that time. Beijing is always going to tilt toward Moscow in this conflict and will never be a peacemaker," he emphasized.

According to the US diplomat, China is conflicted because of its support for the territorial integrity of not only Ukraine but also Taiwan. Matthew Bryza noted that if China wanted to become a peacekeeper, the country's foreign minister would visit Kyiv, but Beijing is trying not to confront Russia too much and at the same time not to be its supporter.

• On February 24, China published a document with a position on the "political settlement" of Russia's war against Ukraine. The so-called peace plan consists of 12 points.

• The White House promptly responded to the "peace plan" by noting that they could stop at the first point – respect for sovereignty.

• President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy also reacted to the plan, saying he would like to hold a meeting with Xi Jinping.

• On February 25, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the clause on lifting sanctions against Russia in the "peace plan" proposed by China was unacceptable to Ukraine.