Brazil and China have put on the table a six-point proposal on the principles and steps required to promote peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and called on other nations to endorse it as well. Viewed together with subsequent statements about the proposal, it becomes clear that this is a major initiative by two members of the BRICS, to mobilize the Global South to together persuade the developed countries to join in a peace effort before this conflict triggers a global, possibly nuclear war.
The proposal was issued following “in-depth” discussions between Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister, and Celso Amorim, Chief Advisor to the President of Brazil, in Beijing on May 23, under the title “Common Understandings Between China and Brazil on Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis.”
They start by calling on “all relevant parties to observe three principles for de-escalating the situation, namely no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting and no provocation by any party.” And second: that “dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis….” And for that: “China and Brazil support an international peace conference held at a proper time that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation of all parties as well as fair discussion of all peace plans.”
Use of nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction must be opposed, and “all possible efforts must be made to prevent nuclear proliferation and avoid [a] nuclear crisis.” Attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities, including power plants, must not happen.
Humanitarian assistance and POW exchanges are also cited as needed steps towards creating conditions for peace, but it is their final, sixth point which addresses the need for a change in the global paradigm of relations between nations. In their words:
