White House does not currently see China open to Ukraine's peace formula

Kateryna Hodunova, The Kyiv Independent news desk
·2 min read

Washington does not currently believe in China agreeing to Ukraine's 10-point peace formula, U.S. national security spokesperson John Kirby said on May 2.

The upcoming global peace summit will take place in mid-June in Switzerland, and 160 national delegations will be invited to the talks.

While Russia has not been invited to the summit, Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak said that China's attendance would be very important and that Ukraine is making every effort to engage Chinese delegates in participating in the event.

China's participation is still in question, but Chinese Ambassador to Switzerland Wang Shihting told Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung in March that China "was considering to join the talks."

Read also: Bloomberg: Blinken to warn Beijing over support for Russia in upcoming trip to China

Kirby said the U.S. welcomes China's attendance or any other state that could help to end the war and respects Kyiv's 10-point peace plan.

But we did not see China moving in this direction, Kirby said during the press briefing.

Ukraine is keeping diplomatic channels with China open, even though Beijing has maintained close ties with Moscow during the war.

Earlier in March, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi praised the strengthening of relations between Beijing and Russia and claimed that China is a "force for peace."

During the press conference, Kirby also recalled additional financial support that was unblocked recently as the U.S. passed a $61 million aid bill for Ukraine.

The U.S. government also allocated $6 billion in military aid under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which means that the Pentagon will send contracts to U.S. defense companies to produce new military supplies to provide Kyiv with them.

We have received additional funding to repel Russian aggression, to return the territories that the Russians took from Ukraine, and to work with our own efforts to achieve a peace that meets the goals of the Ukrainian leadership and people, the spokesperson said.

Read also: US sanctions Russia, Chinese companies for war effort support

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