At a press conference in Berlin yesterday, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert, responding to a question about XiJinping’s visit to Moscow, said that the government supports, in general, the Chinese peace diplomacy proposal, which in the German view still lacks certain details. This refers to China’s not insisting on a full Russian troop withdrawal from Ukraine, something that the Western alliance makes a precondition of ceasefire talks.
Kiev’s Ukrinform chose to single out Seibert’s response and provided surprisingly positive coverage of the development. It emphasized that, while Germany welcomed China’s proposal for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, China should speak not only with the Russians but also with the Ukrainian side. And the sooner it becomes possible, the better.
Ukrinform noted Seibert’s caveat that such negotiations look quite hypothetical and distant at the moment, but, importantly, wrote that a prerequisite for the negotiations is that “both sides can further live with their outcome; especially the Ukrainian side.” He noted that what was formulated by the Chinese, at first glance, does not create the impression that it can be acceptable to the Ukrainian side; yet, he did not rule out that a better result might be achieved during the discussion. Evidently, nothing was specified, by Siebert or by Ukrinform, about having to return to pre-2014 borders before discussion could be possible.
Seibert also added the standard line: “Ukrainians themselves must decide how this conflict can be settled and ended. Germany, for its part, will support Ukraine for as long as necessary: politically, financially, humanitarianly, and with weapons.” However, there was nothing standard about most of his remarks nor about Ukrinform’s coverage.