China has poured cold water on Ukraine’s traveling road show, the so-called “Ukraine Peace Plan” summit. Widely viewed as a public relations stunt to avoid any actual peace discussions, the matter was brought up by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, when he finally got his meeting yesterday with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference (MSC). According to Bloomberg News, Kuleba said that he discussed “the need to restore a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. I informed Foreign Minister Wang Yi about Ukraine’s vision for the upcoming Global Peace Summit in Switzerland.” Originally planned for next month, the Switzerland meeting has failed to draw high level interest so far, and the March date may come and go.
Even though China has a history of bending over backwards to encourage dialogue, when asked at his on-stage interview at the MSC about such discussions, Wang Yi declared: “There are not ripe conditions in place for parties to go back to the negotiating table. China has done a lot of constructive work and we will continue to play a positive role.” He then indicated that China isn’t solely responsible for resolving the crisis.
