Moscow's maneuvers in coming months are becoming clear - Ukrainian diplomat

He said this in the Studio West with Antin Borkovskyi program on Espreso TV.

"Diplomatic artillery will now enter the battle. And the first such signal is two initiatives. One came from Ankara, where Turkish President Recep Erdogan said that he would be happy to provide a platform for dialogue and negotiations. And the second was the trip of the Special Envoy of the People's Republic of China, Li Hui. Interestingly, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, answering a question from a journalist of the Global Times, a Chinese Communist newspaper, about the purpose of this trip, said that the situation on the frontline encourages the parties, in Beijing's view, to have a high probability of dialogue. It is clear that envoy Li Hui could not help but stop by Moscow for instructions first," Roman Bezsmertnyi said.

According to him, the final information for the media said that in Moscow (almost a quote): "China and Russia agreed that it is unacceptable to consider the issue of Ukrainian dialogue without Russia's participation. And there is something in the Russian statement that is not in the Chinese statement: that all unilateral initiatives - both from the West and from Ukraine - only complicate the situation, the road to a possible dialogue.''

"And this diplomatic artillery will increase its calibre in the coming months, and the reason for this is not that Ukrainian troops have left Avdiivka, because that's how Beijing presents it. The reason is that Russia is not in a position to develop these events, and that is why a pause is now urgently needed to accumulate strength. I don't know if Ankara understands, but from my point of view, everything is easier there, because Erdogan is solving his own issues, because the formation of the budget for the next 2025 is beginning. In China, it's easier, Beijing is just following the Kremlin's instructions and playing its role in these diplomatic voyages. We will now see how Brazil will be fired up in this situation, Lula da Silva (Brazilian President - ed.), although his chair is already on fire because of the situation inside the country, but what else can you do, when you need to implement the instructions coming from Moscow and Beijing. In the same way, new proposals will now arise from African “peacemakera" and so on. I think the Saudis will get involved. That is, another storm is coming," the diplomat commented.

The politician noted that Li Hui's meeting in Europe, in Brussels, was held in a rather tough tone, where representatives of the European community made it very clear that if China continues to supply Russia with components for such weapons as cruise missiles, combat vehicles, aircraft, and so on, the number of sanctions will increase.

"The position of Li Hui on behalf of China and the Chinese ambassador to the EU, who was present at the meeting, was unequivocal: we are not sending lethal weapons to Russia, we are not adding fuel to the fire, we want to be constructive and add only Chinese wisdom to the need for dialogue. I'm almost quoting from what was said inside this dialogue. The European representatives responded quite firmly that they are ready to exchange information and engage in dialogue, but China must draw conclusions. Because China leaves the European Union with no other option but to increase sanctions and reduce trade with China because it is actually assisting Russia in the bombing of Ukraine. These components already form an understandable situation regarding the manoeuvres that will be carried out by Moscow in the coming months," Bezsmertnyi concluded.

• On March 3, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin and China's Special Representative for Eurasia Li Hui said that a settlement of the war in Ukraine is impossible without taking into account Russian interests.
• On March 4, a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that the Russian authorities are manipulating the negotiation platforms proposed by China and Turkey to undermine further international support for Ukraine.
• On March 7, the President's Office hosts a meeting on the security situation in Ukraine and other topical issues with a Chinese delegation led by Li Hui, the government's special representative for Eurasia.
• On March 8, President Zelenskyy paid an official visit to Turkey.