The influential Washington Post columnist David Ignatius writes that American diplomats believe that China can play a positive role in ending the war, especially if the Ukrainian offensive succeeds.
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It was Ignatius’s conclusion that finally spurred an exchange of remarks with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Wednesday at the newspaper’s World Press Freedom Day event. According to the journalist, Blinken publicly said that senior State Department officials have been talking on the sidelines in recent days.
There, they see the way to peace as follows: first, Ukraine, in the course of the upcoming offensive, wins back as much of its territory as possible (Blinken said that he “feels confident that [Україна] will achieve success in the return of his other territories as well” – by the way, it did not follow from his words that he was talking about all the occupied territories).
After that, Ukraine will be able to talk about peace with Russia from a position of strength, and intermediary countries that influence Russia, including China, can join the negotiations, as Blinken also said on Wednesday.
According to several Ignatius interlocutors in the administration, Russia is unhappy with Chinese mediation efforts (spoken in a telephone conversation between President Xi Jinping and Vladimir Zelensky, and before that in the so-called Chinese peace plan, which most observers considered unworkable).
But Moscow is subordinated to Beijing economically and militarily, and it is not easy for her to resist the wishes of China. That’s one reason administration officials are so intrigued by China’s peace efforts; they believe that this could prevent Russia from trying to restart the war in the future after a pause, writes Ignatius.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.