China called for a ceasefire in Ukraine while unveiling a Moscow-friendly peace plan on Friday as part of a larger effort to defend Beijing's claims of neutrality in Russia's war amid increased pressure from the West.
The 12 point proposal, released by China's Foreign Ministry, mostly reiterated the country's long-standing positions without making new diplomatic or policy suggestions. In addition to the ceasefire, which would freeze Russian troops currently occupying Ukrainian territory in place, the plan also urged an immediate end to all unilateral sanctions not endorsed by the United Nations' Security Council, where Moscow has veto power.
"All parties should earnestly maintain the existing world economic system and oppose using the world economy as a tool or weapon for political purposes," the plan says."Joint efforts are needed to mitigate the spillovers of the crisis and prevent it from disrupting international cooperation in energy, finance, food trade and transportation and undermining the global economic recovery.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday that"China doesn’t have much credibility" to broker a peace deal given its response to the war thus far. "Our task is to gather everyone to isolate the one," he continued, expressing hope that Chinese involvement in the conflict could possibly lead to isolating Russia. Zelensky also revealed that he wanted to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying,"I believe that it will benefit our countries and the security of the world."
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