MP Merezhko doubts Beijing's readiness to put pressure on Kremlin
Chinese President Xi Jinping is unlikely to agree to put pressure on the Russian aggressor to stop the war against Ukraine, Member of Parliament Oleksandr Merezhko (Servant of the People faction), chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, has said.
"This meeting (between US President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping - IF-U) will mainly be devoted to economic issues and problems in relations between the US and China. At the same time, there is a possibility that President Trump will raise the issue of Russian aggression against Ukraine and try to convince the Chinese leader to use his influence to force the Kremlin dictator to agree to serious negotiations. Putin is afraid of two states - the US and the PRC. Therefore, joint pressure from these countries could force him to stop the aggression... However, the PRC is unlikely to agree to put pressure on the Russian aggressor to stop the war against Ukraine," Merezhko told the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday.
According to Merezhko, China will not put pressure on Russia, as it is a strategic partner of Russia without restrictions, and one of the consequences of Russian aggression has been the strengthening of Russia's dependence on China.
"This means, in particular, that the Chinese leader is unlikely to dare to take such steps that would irritate Putin, since China is afraid of reducing the degree of Russia's dependence on China. On the other hand, we observe that American sanctions against Russian energy companies are already starting to yield results, as Chinese companies have begun to think about abandoning Russian energy sources," the committee chairman noted.
However, Merezhko noted that he does not lose hope that President Trump will be able to find the appropriate arguments to convince the Chinese leader to influence Putin in order to stop Russian aggression.
