China does not oppose holding a Peace Summit and refusing to participate in it does not mean that the Chinese side refuses to support the advent of peace in Ukraine, at the same time, China sincerely hopes that the peace conference will not turn into a platform that will be used to create a block confrontation between the countries, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said at a briefing on Monday.

“Great importance was attached to Switzerland’s organizing the Summit on Peace in Ukraine from the very beginning and have been in close communication with Switzerland, Ukraine and other relevant parties on this,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Mao Ning noted.

She also repeated the position previously voiced by China that “international peace conference needs to meet the three important elements, namely, recognition from both Russia and Ukraine, equal participation of all parties, and fair discussion of all peace plans.”

“As far as China is concerned, the meeting does not yet seem to meet these three elements and that is exactly why China would not be able to take part in the meeting. Let me stress that China’s position on the peace conference is fair and just. [At the same time], our position does not target any party and certainly not this particular summit. China’s decision on participation is purely based on our assessment of the meeting itself, and we believe relevant parties can understand our position,” Ning stated.

At the same time, as she stressed, “whether one supports peace or not should not be judged by a particular country or on the basis of a particular meeting.”

“China sincerely hopes that a peace conference will not turn into a platform used to create bloc confrontation. Not attending it does not mean not supporting peace,” the official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry noted.

Ning also noted that China values its strategic partnership with Ukraine and remains the largest trading partner.

“Since the full escalation of the Ukraine crisis, China has maintained communication and cooperation with Ukraine. China is still Ukraine’s largest trading partner. Our Embassy in Ukraine continues to function normally,” she stated.

Answering the question of whether there are grounds to say that Chinese diplomats can put pressure on third countries in order to dissuade them from participating in the Peace Summit, as mentioned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a conversation with journalists in Singapore, Ning noted that “hegemonism and power politics are not China’s diplomatic style. There is no such thing as China pressuring other countries.”

Also, commenting on the reports of the President of Ukraine that Russian weapons contain elements that are supplied from China, Ning said that “China does not provide weapons to the parties to conflict and strictly controls the export of dual-use articles.”

At the same time, according to her, “our normal trade with Russia is done aboveboard. It’s consistent with WTO rules and market principles, and does not target any third party.”  

As reported, during a visit to Singapore on June 1-2, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia, using the influence of China and Chinese diplomats, was doing everything to disrupt the Peace Summit. He also said that China had made a strategic mistake by supporting the position of the aggressor state and noted that China's continued support for Russia would contribute to the continuation of the war. This, according to him, will have a bad effect on China itself, which has officially declared its support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.