China has refuted accusations made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that it is pressuring other countries to avoid attending a planned peace summit on the war in Ukraine.
At a regular press briefing on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning stated, “On peace talks, China’s position is fair and just. It does not target any third country, and of course, is not aimed at Switzerland’s hosting of this summit for peace.”
President Zelenskyy, speaking at a security forum in Singapore on Sunday, alleged that Beijing was actively working to prevent nations from participating in the peace summit scheduled to be hosted by Switzerland later this month. Kyiv hopes that the summit will garner broad international support for its vision of the conditions necessary to end the conflict with Russia.
Last week, China expressed criticism of the conference, noting that it would be “difficult” for it to attend if Russia did not participate. In response, Beijing’s foreign ministry reiterated on Monday that “China’s position is open and transparent, and there is absolutely no instance of us putting pressure on other countries.”
Despite the controversy, President Zelenskyy mentioned on Sunday that over 100 countries and organizations had signed up for the conference so far.
China maintains that it is a neutral party in the conflict and is committed to ending hostilities through dialogue. However, Western nations have criticized Beijing for its close ties with Moscow and for providing diplomatic and political support to Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the ongoing conflict.
