Moscow. May 15. INTERFAX - Beijing's proposals on the Ukrainian settlement could be the basis for a political and diplomatic process that would take into account Russia's concerns and contribute to the establishment of long-term peace, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the Xinhua news agency on the eve of his visit to China.
"The realistic and constructive steps proposed by Beijing - to achieve peace by renouncing the pursuit of selfish interests and constantly increasing the degree of tension, by minimizing the negative impact of the conflict on the world economy and the stability of global industrial supply chains - develop ideas about the need to overcome the cold War mentality, the indivisibility of security, compliance with international law and the UN Charter in all their aggregates and interconnections," Putin said.
Therefore, he continued, Chinese ideas "could be the basis for a political and diplomatic process that would take into account Russia's security concerns and contribute to the establishment of long-term and sustainable peace."
The Russian president recalled that back in February 2023, China published its twelve-point position on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.
"As for the additional four principles of conflict resolution recently expressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, they organically complement the mentioned plan," Putin added.
At the same time, he expressed regret that Chinese initiatives are not supported either in Ukraine or in the West.
"They are not ready for an equal, honest and open dialogue based on mutual respect and consideration of each other's interests. They do not want to discuss the root causes, the origins of the current crisis on the planet, one of the dramatic manifestations of which was the situation around Ukraine," the head of state explained.
He expressed the opinion that this position is due to the fact that it was the policy of the West in previous years that led to the current global upheavals.
"Instead, Western elites persistently try to "punish" Russia, isolate and weaken it, and supply the Kiev authorities with money and weapons. Almost 16 thousand unilateral illegitimate sanctions have been imposed against our country. They threaten to dismember our country. They are illegally trying to appropriate our foreign assets. They turn a blind eye to the revival of Nazism, to the terrorist acts carried out by Ukraine on our territory," Putin continued.
At the same time, he stressed that Russia wants "a comprehensive, sustainable and just settlement of this conflict by peaceful means and is open to dialogue on Ukraine."
"But these should be negotiations that take into account the interests of all the countries involved in this conflict, including our interests. Coupled with a serious conversation about global stability, about security guarantees for the opposing side, and, of course, for Russia," the Russian president continued.
Putin especially stressed that these should be reliable guarantees.
"And the main problem is precisely the reliability of any guarantees, since we are dealing with states whose ruling circles prefer a world order not based on international law, but a "rules-based order", which they constantly talk about, but which no one has seen, with which no one has agreed and which, Apparently, they change depending on the current political situation and the interests of those who come up with them," he said in this regard.
