China supported U.S. President Donald Trump's push to reach a deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine at a G20 foreign ministers' meeting in South Africa on Tuesday, as U.S. allies rallied behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Reuters reported.
Less than a month into his second term, Trump has reversed U.S. policy on the war, ending a campaign to isolate Moscow with a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin and talks between senior U.S. and Russian officials that sidelined Kiev, Reuters noted.
On Wednesday, Trump called Zelensky a "dictator," and his words prompted statements of support for the Ukrainian president from G20 members including Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
“China supports all efforts leading to peace (in Ukraine), including the recent consensus reached between the United States and Russia,“ Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during the meeting. "China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in the political solution based on the needs of the parties involved and the concerns of the international community," he added.
Wang did not repeat the point he made at the Munich Security Conference last Friday that all parties concerned in the Russia-Ukraine conflict should participate in any peace talks.
Beijing wants to ensure its participation in any agreement Trump tries to reach with the Kremlin to prevent the currently diplomatically isolated Russia from slipping out of his influence, analysts said.
"By going straight to Putin, President Trump has eliminated what Beijing hoped could be a key element of initial leverage," said Ruby Osman, a China expert at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
"Instead, China can turn its attention to discussing China's role in possibly restoring and maintaining peace - something that would give Beijing a significantly stronger interest in the European security architecture,“ she added.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration said it had agreed to hold more talks with Russia to end the nearly three-year-old conflict after a four-and-a-half-hour meeting in Saudi Arabia.
Russia said the talks were useful but hardened its demands, insisting it would not allow Ukraine to become a member of NATO.
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Source: www.bta.bg