No country can force Ukraine and Russia to negotiate - Chinese expert

Wang Yiwei, an authoritative Chinese expert and professor of international relations at the Remin University of China, said this in a comment to Ukrinform's correspondent in Beijing.

"Today, no country is able to influence Kyiv and Moscow to resume negotiations," Wang said.

In his opinion, the main obstacle to rapprochement between the positions of Ukraine and Russia is deep mistrust between the two countries.

"For example, Ukraine is seeking China's support for any peace negotiations or a future peace agreement, while the Russian side does not trust Ukraine and demands guarantees from the United States to sign a potential agreement," the expert said.

Photo: Zou Hong / China Daily

He noted that due to the lack of trust, each side is convinced that the other will use the ceasefire to prepare for new attacks in the future, so peace talks are impossible at this stage.

"Obviously, only when both sides are unable to continue the war or hostilities, only then can they come to the negotiating table," Wang said.

The Chinese professor said another obstacle is the great differences in the vision of Kyiv and Moscow as prerequisites for starting negotiations on a ceasefire or peace talks.

"The Ukrainian side demands that Russia return all territories it occupied during the war, even since 2014, including Crimea. It is clear that now it is unrealistic, therefore today it is impossible to build a bridge across the chasm between the approaches of Ukraine and Russia," the expert concluded.

First photo: EPA/UPG