US President Joe Biden and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky walk down the Colonnade to the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, Dec 21, 2022. (Photo: Agencies)
United States President Joe Biden conveyed the unequivocal message to the visiting Ukrainian leader on Wednesday that you'd better fight as long as we support you. That is in stark contrast with the call for a political settlement to the Russia-Ukraine conflict voiced by President Xi Jinping during his meeting with Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council and chairman of the United Russia Party, in Beijing a few hours earlier on the same day.
Biden's words might shed some light on why something always happens whenever Moscow and Kyiv have seemed to agree on cease-fire talks. Certainly, the fact that the generous military support the US is providing for Ukraine pales beside the exorbitant profits it is making from arms and energy deals provides a clue as to why it might not want the conflict to end any time soon.
Likewise, Xi's words offer a clue as to why the Biden administration has switched its attention from trying hard to force countries to choose sides to spurring Ukraine to keep on fighting, as the neutral and pragmatic stance China has taken on the issue has won the recognition of the peace-loving world.
China always decides its own position and policies based on the merits of a matter. It has taken an objective and fair position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and, rather than do anything that adds fuel to the fire, it has made consistent efforts to facilitate peace talks. No matter how difficult the talks might be and how large the differences between Russia and Ukraine, China is steadfast in advocating that negotiations should take place until a cease-fire is agreed and peace is restored.
As President Xi stressed, the parties concerned should show rationality and restraint, engage in comprehensive dialogue and address each other's security concerns through political means.
China firmly believes the fighting will eventually come to an end, and the key is how to learn from the painful experience so as to safeguard the security of all countries in Europe and ensure peace on the continent, where the wounds of history have still not fully healed.
China believes that a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism should be established through equal-footed dialogue based on the principle of indivisible security. Upholding an objective and impartial position in this regard, China will continue to play a constructive role in its own way irrespective of how the US tries to smear its stance on the issue and its cooperation with Russia.
Meanwhile, the normal bilateral exchanges and cooperation between China and Russia are not subject to the unilateral US-led sanctions that have no legitimacy in international laws. As Xi noted, over the past decade China-Russia ties have withstood the test of the volatile changes in the international landscape and maintained healthy, steady and high-level development. Any attempts by the US to hijack Sino-Russian ties with the Ukraine crisis are doomed to fail.