BEIJING (Dispatches) - Chinese leader Xi Jinping has laid out four principles that he says are imperative to finally achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Xi has proposed his new peace plan during a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which marked the 10th anniversary of what Chinese-state-owned outlet Xinhua called an “all-round strategic partnership” between Berlin and Beijing.
Xi also listed four key principles to ensure that peace is reached between Kyiv and Moscow: to focus on peace and stability rather than “selfish” gains, to cool down the situation in Ukraine rather than “add fuel to the fire,” to establish conditions for restoring peace rather than aggravating the situation, and to reduce the negative impact that the war is having on the world economy.
Xinhua also reported that China “is not a party to the Ukraine crisis, but has consistently promoted talks for peace in its own way.”
Beijing presented a 12-point peace plan over a year ago that offered vague principles for ending the war in Ukraine. The plan was ill-received by Ukrainian and Western officials last spring.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, said earlier this month that he believed China’s original proposal for reaching peace with Ukraine was the most “reasonable” one that has been presented, telling reporters on April 4. “The most important thing for us is that the Chinese document is based on an analysis of the reasons for what is happening and the need to eliminate these root causes. It is structured in logic from the general to the specific.”
Ukraine has released its own 10-point peace plan ending its war against Russia, which includes calls for a cease-fire and restoration of Ukraine’s territory to Kyiv’s control, including the Crimean Peninsula.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, has demanded that Ukraine accept the “new territorial realities.” Moscow occupies large swaths of Ukraine’s southern and eastern territories, and Putin has repeatedly dismissed the idea that Ukraine is a sovereign state.
The latest development in the battlefield, three Russian missiles crashed into Ukraine’s historic city of Chernigiv on Wednesday, killing 17 people, as officials pleaded for more air defense systems from allies.
Pools of blood formed on the street at the scene of one strike where rescuers searched for survivors in the rubble and carried away the wounded on stretchers, official images showed.
Buildings and cars across the centre of the northern city were destroyed in the strike.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has urged allies to send more missiles to thwart Russian aerial attacks, said Ukraine lacked the weapons it needed to intercept the three missiles that struck Chernigiv.
“Our neighbors were already there. We started shouting for everyone to fall to the floor. They did. There were two more explosions. Then we ran to the parking lot,” the 33-year-old said.
The official death toll grew to 16 during the day, while emergency services said 61 people -- including three children -- had been wounded.
“Search and rescue operations are ongoing,” their statement added.
In August last year, seven people were killed in a Russian missile attack on a theatre hosting an exhibition on drones.