By our Eastern European Affairs correspondent
Vladimir Putin has endorsed the Chinese peace road-map for Ukraine. But it can be implemented only when West and Kiev are “ready” for it, the Russian president said after talks with his Chinese counterpart in the Kremlin this week.
On Monday, Chinese president Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin held almost five hours of informal talks behind closed doors. President Xi’s visit is his first to Russia since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, and also his first foreign trip since securing an unprecedented third term as China’s head of state.
Putin praised Beijing's 12-point peace plan during a summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The Chinese leader said Beijing continues to strictly adhere to the UN principles over the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, maintaining a balanced position calling on all parties to exercise restraint and a return to negotiations to seek a diplomatic solution to hostilities. “We’re always for peace and dialogue, and we firmly stand on the right side of history,” Xi said.
This was welcomed by the Russian side. Putin however said the Western powers are still determined to prolong the conflict.“We believe that many of the provisions of the peace plan put forward by China are consonant with the Russian stance and can be taken as a foundation for a peaceful settlement when they are ready for it in the West and in Kiev. However, so far we have not observed such readiness on their part,” he said.
The Americans want to kill the Chinese proposals stone-dead. On the eve of the Moscow summit US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told Fox News that any possible call by China for a ceasefire in Ukraine was "unacceptable". American imperialism does not want to see an end to the conflict it has done so much to foster and escalate all along.
By prolonging the conflict the Americans seek to weaken Russia and force their NATO allies to further rely on the United States in security matters so that it can consolidate its grip over Europe. Enormous profits are being made from the 154 per cent surge in demand for US liquefied natural gas following the sanctions against Russian energy exports and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines which many believe was carried out by American agents.
But the times they are a changing and not in favour of the Americans. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who praised Xi’s visit to Russia, is flying to Beijing for talks with the Chinese leaders next week and Ukraine is going to be top of the agenda.
French President Emmanuel Macron plans to visit China in early April, in part to seek Chinese help to end the Ukraine crisis. "The fact that China engages in peace efforts is a good thing," Macron told the media.
Meanwhile Russia has warned Britain against the planned delivery of depleted uranium (DU) armour-piercing tank rounds to Ukraine, saying the weapons will be treated by Moscow as containing “nuclear components.”
Putin commented on UK plans to include DU munitions in a forthcoming delivery of Challenger 2 main battle tanks as he spoke alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping following talks in Moscow on Tuesday. Depleted uranium is used to make the hardened cores of armour-piercing rounds. The round’s core evaporates on impact, turning into aerosol and contaminating the environment with uranium.
“I would like to note that if this happens, then Russia will be forced to react accordingly, bearing in mind that the collective West has already started to use weapons with a nuclear component,” Putin stated.
A similar warning was issued by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on the sidelines of the Russia-China talks, who said the move would bring the world yet another step
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