KYIV (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday welcomed some elements of a Chinese proposal for a ceasefire in Russia’s war on Ukraine, but said only the country where a war is being fought should be the initiator of a peace plan.
“I think it’s correct to think that if there are thoughts that, in one way or another, correspond with respect for international law, to territorial integrity… let’s work with China on this point,” he said during a news conference in Kyiv.
Zelenskiy, who said he believed China did not offer a concrete plan but some “thoughts”, also warned Beijing against providing Moscow with arms.
“I very much want to believe that China will not deliver weapons to Russia, and for me this is very important,” he said, speaking on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“This is point number one.”
The Ukrainian leader also said it was promising that China – a Russian ally – was considering brokering peace but that any plan that didn’t include a full Russian troop withdrawal would be unacceptable to Kyiv.
(Reporting by Max Hunder, Writing by Dan Peleschuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
