Russia-Ukraine war: US rejects China peace plan as ruse for ‘Russian conquest’
The US double downed on war in Europe amid Xi Jinping’s plan to meet Vladimir Putin, who was officially charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
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The United States opposed China’s calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine as a thinly-veiled ruse to regroup before a new offensive of a “Russian conquest” in Europe.
It comes as an arrested warrant over war crimes was issued for Russian leader Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court.
The Hague-based ICC charged Putin over the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children.
Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping, meanwhile, will travel to Moscow for what they claim is a “trip for peace” next week in a major new alliance between the two countries.
“We don’t support calls for a ceasefire right now,” White House spokesman John Kirby said after the landmark trip was announced.
China’s foreign minister Wang Wenbin said the so-called trip for peace, which comes soon after Beijing’s so-called 12-point plan for a political settlement of the Ukraine war, marked a “new era” of co-operation between the Communist and Oligarch governments to “promote greater democracy”.
“At present, the situation unseen in a century is evolving at a faster pace and the world has entered a new period of instability and transformation,” Mr Wenbin said. “China and Russia are permanent members of the UN Security Council and major countries, and the significance and influence of the China-Russia relationship goes far beyond the bilateral scope.”
Mr Kirby, the spokesman for the US’s National Security Council, dismissed China’s claims of wanting peace as an attempt to secure new Russian borders in Ukraine territory.
“We certainly don’t support calls for a ceasefire that would be called for by the PRC in a meeting in Moscow that would simply benefit Russia,” Mr Kirby said.
“A ceasefire now is … effectively the ratification of Russian conquest,” he added.
“Russia would be free then to use a ceasefire to only further entrench their positions in Ukraine, to rebuild, refit and refresh their forces so they can restart attacks on Ukraine at a time of their choosing.”
“We do not believe this is a step toward a just and durable peace.”
Mr Kirby reiterated that President Joe Biden plans to talk by phone with Xi but said that arrangements have not even started.
“There is no call scheduled. While the president has made it clear he wants, he looks forward to another opportunity to speak with President Xi, we’re not actively engaged in the logistics of setting that up right now,” he said.
“To my knowledge, there’s been no outreach to the Chinese to work on the logistics.”
US officials are watching closely whether China will extend its diplomatic support for Russia during the war to military assistance, such as ammunition or weaponry.
Kirby said Beijing has not “taken it off the table, but we also haven’t seen any indications, any confirmation, that they’ve made a decision to move in that direction or have actually provided” weapons.
ARREST WARRANT ISSUED FOR PUTIN
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children.
The Hague-based ICC said it had also issued a warrant against Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, on similar charges.
Russia is not a member of the ICC. It was unclear how the ICC planned to enforce the warrant.
“Today, pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court issued warrants of arrest for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine: Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova,” the ICC said in a statement.
Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.” The ICC said the crimes dated from February 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes,” it said.
Putin was allegedly responsible both directly by committing the acts and for “failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission.” The arrest warrants are being kept secret to protect victims and witnesses, it said.
The ICC is a court of last resort for crimes that countries cannot or will not prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan launched an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine just days after Russia’s invasion.
The Kremlin said Friday that the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin was legally “void” since Moscow does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction.
“Russia, just like a number of different countries, does not recognise the jurisdiction of this court and so from a legal point of view, the decisions of this court are void,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters
JETS SUPPLIED TO UKRAINE
The Kremlin said on Friday that fighter jets given to Ukraine by Poland and Slovakia would be destroyed, and repeated that Western arms deliveries to Kyiv would not change Russia’s military aims.
“The supply of this military equipment – as we have repeatedly said – will not change the outcome of the special military operation … Of course, all this equipment will be destroyed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, using the official term for Moscow’s military intervention.
It comes after the White House rejected talk of the US sending warplanes to Ukraine following Poland become the first country to send MiG-29 fighters to battle Russia.
“It doesn’t change our calculus with regards to F16s,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters, referring to the US-built fighter jet.
Poland’s move “does not affect, does not change” that.
Slovakia also joined Poland’s offer, donating 13 MiG-29 warplanes to Ukraine, the Slovak prime minister said on Friday.
“We will hand over 13 of our MiG-29 jets to Ukraine,” Slovak premier Eduard Heger told journalists, adding that Bratislava would also deliver a Kub air defence system to Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking to reporters on a visit to Niger, alluded to the heavy costs of US fighter jets.
“I think it’s a mistake to get focused on any particular weapons system at any given time,” Mr Blinken said.
He said it was important “not only making sure that the Ukrainians have the right weapons system but that they can use it”.
“So depending on the system, that might require significant training or maintenance,” Mr Blinken said.
“Different countries are doing different things in response to what they have and to what the perceived needs are.”
CHINA WARNED
Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a state visit to Moscow next week, where he will hold talks with his strategic ally Vladimir Putin just over a year into Russia’s war in Ukraine.
President Xi will be in Russia from Monday to Wednesday, Beijing’s foreign ministry and the Kremlin said on Friday.
China’s foreign ministry called Xi’s trip “a visit for peace” that aimed to “practice true multilateralism … improve global governance and make contributions to the development and progress of the world”.
The two leaders would exchange views on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference.
“At present, changes not seen in a century are rapidly evolving, and the world has entered a new period of turmoil,” he said.
“China will uphold its objective and fair position on the Ukrainian crisis and play a constructive role in promoting peace talks.”
The Kremlin said the two presidents would speak about “strategic co-operation” and “discuss deepening the exhaustive partnership and strategic co-operation between Russia and China”.
Xi’s visit comes just over a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, kicking off a war that has isolated Moscow on the international stage.
China, a major Russian ally, has sought to position itself as a neutral party in the conflict, urging Moscow and Kyiv to resolve it through negotiations.
In a 12-point position paper on the war last month, China called for dialogue and respect for all countries’ territorial sovereignty.
But Western leaders have repeatedly criticised Beijing for failing to condemn the invasion, accusing it of providing Moscow with diplomatic cover for its war.
The United States has accused China of mulling arms shipments to support Russia’s war – claims Beijing has strongly denied.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in February he was planning to meet Xi after Beijing called for talks.
The Chinese foreign ministry did not confirm on Friday whether he planned to do so.
However, the two nations’ foreign ministers held a phone call on Thursday, the first since China’s Qin Gang took office.
Qin urged Kyiv and Moscow to restart peace talks “as soon as possible”, adding that “China is concerned that the crisis could escalate and get out of control”, according to an official readout.
His Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba said the call included discussion of “the significance of the principle of territorial integrity”, without giving details.
It comes after the White House said talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Chinese leader Xi Jinping would be a “good thing,” but warned Beijing against taking a “one-sided” view of the conflict.
“We think it would be a very good thing if the two of them talk,” Mr Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, said after a Wall Street Journal report that the Ukrainian leader is set to talk with Xi for the first time since Chinese ally Russia invaded.
“We support and have supported” contact, Mr Kirby said.
But he cautioned against a Chinese push for a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying it would simply help Russian aggression.
ASSAD CLAIMS PUTIN ‘FIGHTING OLD NAZIS’
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a three hour lunch in Moscow where they pledged even closer ties.
Assad said that he would welcome any Russian proposals to set up new military bases and boost troop numbers in his country, reported The Mirror.
Assad claimed Russia was fighting neo-Nazis and “old Nazis” in Ukraine.
“Even though Russia now is also conducting the special operation, its position has remained unchanged,” he said, per a Russian translation.
– With AFP
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