President Volodymyr Zelensky said Beijing backed the West’s 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposal on Tuesday.
Kyiv, with Europe’s backing and the US’s blessing, sent a collective ultimatum to Moscow on Saturday to comply with the ceasefire starting Monday, which has been ignored by the Kremlin as of Tuesday.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Zelensky said Kyiv “received a signal” from Beijing without elaborating on what exactly Beijing said, according to Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform.
“We received a signal from the Chinese side that they support the 30-day ceasefire proposed by Ukraine. Also, signals from China and other states that it would be fair to go to a complete ceasefire, and that on May 8 and 10, there was security in the region, where many leaders, including China, were present,” Zelensky said, referring to Moscow’s unilateral three-day truce last week.
On Monday, reporters from Russia’s RIA Novosti and Ukraine’s Ukrinform outlets asked Beijing about its stance on the ceasefire during a press conference, to which Beijing’s Spokesperson Lin Jian responded with the same answer that Beijing “[supports] all efforts for peace” without explicitly addressing the ceasefire proposal.
“We support all efforts for peace. We hope that relevant parties will continue to work for the conclusion of a fair, lasting and binding peace deal that is accepted by all parties concerned through dialogue and negotiation and ultimately realize the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis,” Lin told RIA Novosti.
“As I said just now about China’s position on the Ukraine crisis, we support all efforts for peace, and hope that parties will continue working towards a fair and durable peace deal that is binding and accepted by all parties concerned through dialogue and negotiation, and ultimately achieve a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis,” Lin then told Ukrinform when the latter asked a similar question.
Moscow has thus far rejected the ceasefire by saying it does not accept the “language of ultimatums,” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin earlier claiming that Moscow supports a ceasefire in general without accepting the ceasefire after the West issued the ultimatums.
Putin proposed direct talks with Kyiv in Turkey on May 15 instead, to which Zelensky said he would attend in person to talk to Putin – and Putin only.
The US is reportedly sending its Russia and Ukraine envoys to potentially mediate the talks.
Moscow has not yet announced who will attend.
Despite the passing of the initial Monday deadline, Europe said Moscow has this week to show progress before it intensifies its sanctions as promised earlier.