He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.
Bryza sees Switzerland's agreement to hold the conference without Russian participation as support for Ukraine and a way to restore its territorial integrity: “I think it will probably be a brainstorming session aimed at finding ways to achieve peace in a manner that allows Ukraine to restore its territorial integrity.”
The former US State Department advisor noted that China, despite its so-called peaceful plan, does not act as an ally of Russia, but rather as a country with shared interests against the West and the US.
“It's worth noting that even China's so-called peace plan, which was very vague regarding Ukraine, did, in fact, embrace the idea of restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity as its first point. Of course, China has to take that position because of its Taiwan problem.
If you also observe China's behavior since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, China has not behaved like an ally of Russia. Instead, it has acted more like a country that has an understanding with Russia, sharing a common opponent, which is the West and the United States. Xi Jinping is essentially using Vladimir Putin to do the dirty work—the difficult work of fighting a war. China has been careful not to provide Russia with any weaponry and not to violate sanctions because China is very worried about US secondary sanctions. These are the ones that would affect Chinese banks, for example, if they were to violate US sanctions. If Chinese banks were no longer able to access the US dollar or the Swift system or the US financial system, Xi Jinping is worried that he would face his own political earthquake at home,” explains Bryza.
Overall, he expresses hope for the success of the Geneva conference and believes that Ukraine will not face pressure to abandon its legitimate demands for the restoration of territorial integrity.
“It would be much better if China didn't share Russia's desire to undermine the West and the US, in addition to Ukraine. However, I actually hold out significant hope for the Geneva conference, and I am confident that there will not be serious pressure on Ukraine to give up its rightful demands to purge its territory of all occupying Russian troops and restore its full territorial integrity,” summarized the former Director for European and Eurasian Affairs at the US National Security Council.