China's “peaceful” position explained by waiting out to see winner in war - Kuleba

This was stated by Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, who spoke at a Q&A session on Monday during the presentation of the book "War and New Horizons. Opinion leaders on the present and future of Ukraine and the world," reports an Ukrinform correspondent.

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy noted that China is very poorly understood in Ukraine, adding that he himself never pretends he has such full understanding either. At the same time, Kuleba notes, China is in no rush for one simple reason – it is critical for them to see how the war between Russia and Ukraine ends.

"Because if it ends with Ukraine’s victory, China's further actions will be constrained. But if this war ends not even with Russia’s victory, but with them imposing their strategic initiative, that is, when they will be encroaching little by little for years, and we will be fighting back little by little despite all the assistance we receive, then, on the contrary, it will free China's hands,” Kuleba noted.

According to the top diplomat, China is now watching the real potential of the West and "considering everything very carefully."

"In China, there are now separate topics of official government research – what is a country defending against a much larger neighbor and a nuclear power capable of, and what are the partners of such a country capable of. And in the end, they will come to conclusions. Therefore, now, in short, they are in the position ‘We stand for peace and all good against all bad.’ But there is a much broader logic in that stance, which will ultimately determine the fate of the world," the minister foresaw.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on June 2, President Volodymyr Zelensky, during a meeting with international reporters on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue conference, said Ukraine saw no positive elements in China not participating in the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland later this month.

In addition, Zelensky noted that China was working to undermine global representation in the event, and also stated that with China’s support for Russia, the war will last longer.

In turn, China declared that it never "fanned or stoked the fire" of the Russo-Ukrainian war, and all efforts aimed at supporting efforts toward peace should be recognized.