US Ukraine crisis Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

 

As the US-led West ramps up military aid to Ukraine, Chinese experts called on the US to stop fanning the flames of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and not kidnap European countries to help it achieve the goal of containing Russia, urging relevant parties involved in the conflict to engage in negotiations. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced his arrival in Berlin for an official visit Sunday, after meetings with Pope Francis at the Vatican and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome. These are viewed as part of Zelensky's efforts to rally support ahead of a planned counteroffensive on the battlefield, according to media reports. 

"Already in Berlin. Weapons. Powerful package. Air defense. Reconstruction. EU. NATO. Security," he wrote on Twitter. 

On Saturday, German government said it was preparing a 2.7 billion euro ($2.93 billion) package of arms for Ukraine. The package is expected to include 30 Leopard-1 tanks, armored vehicles, drones, air defense systems, missiles and ammunition, media reported. 


Group of Seven finance chiefs on Saturday have also put more aid on the table for Ukraine following their talks in Japan. "We, together with the international community, have increased our commitment of budget and economic support for Ukraine for 2023 and early 2024 to $44 billion," their statement said.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times on Sunday that there are notable signals that the conflict is ramping up now despite constant calls for a cease-fire after more than a year of the Russia-Ukraine military conflict.  

The US continues to enhance its military support to Ukraine. European countries have also been kidnapped by the US to provide weapons to Ukraine. This all serves the interests of the US, whose purpose is to force European countries to help the US to use the Ukraine issue to counter Russia and drag it down, according to Song, who urged the US to stop fanning the flames and seek an earlier peaceful solution.   

Any peace plan to end Russia's military action in Ukraine "must be Ukrainian," Zelensky was quoted as saying on Saturday after meeting privately with Pope Francis at the Vatican - remarks that some media said suggested there was some daylight between the two leaders over how to resolve the grinding conflict.

But it is the US that is actually behind the potential peace plan, Chinese analysts pointed out. 

The essence of promoting peace talks is to persuade both parties, and even multiple parties involved in the conflict, to engage in negotiations. The essence of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a hybrid war between the US and Russia, and it is meaningless and unrealistic to only persuade one side, analysts said, noting that as the US' goal to pull down Russia has not been achieved so far, Washington does not seem to want peace now.

In contrast to the US' provocation, China on Friday announced that its special envoy for Eurasian affairs Li Hui will visit Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia, starting on Monday, to communicate with all parties on a political solution to the Ukraine crisis. 

Among the five countries of the upcoming visit, Ukraine and Russia are the two parties directly involved in the conflict and the other three are major countries related to the issue. This arrangement demonstrates China's efforts to bring about a political settlement to the Ukraine crisis, showing China's objective and fair stance as a responsible power.