Western Hostility toward Peace Mediation Efforts by China and other Powers, by Ted Galen Carpenter

It’s a terrible thing to say that the West is against peace in Ukraine (the reasons can only be bad), but it happens to be true. From Ted Galen Carpenter at chinausfocus.com:

On the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) offered a 12-point plan to bring an end to the bloodshed, starting with an immediate cease fire.  The proposal stated that “the sovereignty of all countries should be respected” and reiterated China’s longstanding opposition to the use of nuclear weapons.  However, it also called for an end to “unilateral sanctions” and – in an apparent swipe at NATO – condemned “bloc confrontations” and manifestations of a “cold-war mentality.”

The reaction of Biden administration officials was decidedly negative.  Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News that the peace plan merely showed that China was trying to draw the world’s eyes away from its support of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “China’s been trying to have it both ways — it’s on the one hand trying to present itself publicly as neutral and seeking peace, while at the same time it is talking up Russia’s false narrative about the war,” Blinken said.  “There are 12 points in the Chinese plan. If they were serious about the first one, sovereignty, then this war could end tomorrow.”

President Biden was utterly dismissive of Beijing’s handiwork.  “If Putin is applauding it, so how could it be any good?” Biden said in an interview with ABC News.  Indeed, the president rejected the very notion that the PRC could play a constructive diplomatic role of any sort to end the war.

Other Western officials offered a similar chilly response.  NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said bluntly: “China doesn’t have much credibility because they have not been able to condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine.”

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