The Chinese president has spoken with all the important players around the Russian invasion of Ukraine except the leader of the country attacked by Moscow. After Xi Jinping's visit to Vladimir Putin last week, there had been much speculation that the leader of the second world power would soon pick up the phone to call Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski, with whom they have not even exchanged greetings for more than Within a year Russia will launch the invasion.
Pending whether or not that talk takes place, Zelensky has issued a formal invitation to the Chinese president to visit him in kyiv. He said this Wednesday in an interview with the AP agency on board a train that took him through Ukraine, passing through cities near the front line of combat and other towns where his country's forces have successfully repelled the attacks. of the Russian army.
"We are ready to see him (Xi Jinping) here," Zelensky said. "I want to talk to him. We had contact before this full-scale war. But for this whole year, we haven't talked." The Ukrainian leader already warned at the beginning of the year that if China aligned itself militarily with Russia, it would provoke World War III.
Zelensky's invitation comes after Xi's trip to Moscow and Putin's announcement that he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. A threat that could complicate the role of Beijing as a mediator in the peace negotiations in Ukraine.
What does China, Russia's great strategic partner, think of the Kremlin going to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus? Let's take a look at the joint declaration that Beijing and Moscow signed last week after the Chinese president's visit to the Russian capital: "All nuclear weapon states must refrain from deploying nuclear weapons outside their territories and must withdraw those that are deployed. out of their territories. In other words: Putin announced that he was going to deposit nuclear weapons in another country just days after committing to Xi Jinping that he would not.
Now, let's take a look at point 8 of the recent Ukraine peace plan proposed by Xi and welcomed in Kiev: "Nuclear weapons must not be used and nuclear wars must not be waged. Nuclear proliferation must be prevented. China too opposes the research, development and use of chemical and biological weapons by any country under any circumstances."
Putin himself, during his ceremonious meetings with Xi in Moscow, also praised the Chinese plan, further saying that it could be used as a "base to end the war", all while Russian forces launched a drone strike south of Kiev. .
Even Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, during his visit to Beijing at the beginning of March, also assured that he "fully supported" the Chinese initiative, the one in which the opposition to any nuclear threat that comes from weapons such as those Lukashenko makes clear , Russia's military ally throughout the invasion, is going to keep at home.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, during the daily press conference held at the Beijing Foreign Ministry, spokeswoman Mao Ning was asked about Putin's nuclear threat. "Under the current circumstances, all parties should focus on diplomatic efforts to peacefully resolve the Ukraine crisis and jointly promote de-escalation of the situation," Mao replied. "In January last year, the leaders of the five nuclear weapon states issued a joint statement, noting that a nuclear war cannot be won or fought, emphasizing that wars between nuclear powers must be avoided, as well as reduce strategic risks." .
A few days ago, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the Chinese president's trip to Moscow had made "the world safer by reducing the possibility of Vladimir Putin using nuclear weapons." Borrell, who will visit Beijing in April, insisted that Xi had "made it very clear" to Putin that he should not deploy nuclear weapons.
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