China and Brazil Continue Pursuing Ukraine Peace Plan Despite Zelenskiy’s Anger, Reports Reuters

By Simon Lewis

UNITED NATIONS – China and Brazil continued their initiative to rally developing nations around a peace plan aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, despite criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who argued that the initiative favors Moscow’s interests.

A meeting was held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, attended by representatives from seventeen countries, and led by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Brazilian foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim.

During the meeting, Wang emphasized the importance of preventing escalation in the conflict and safeguarding against the use of weapons of mass destruction, as well as protecting nuclear facilities from attacks. "Russia and Ukraine are neighboring countries that cannot be moved away from each other; amity is the only realistic option," he stated, urging the international community to back a peace conference involving both nations.

In addition to Brazil and China, representatives from ten Global South nations, including Indonesia, South Africa, and Turkey, signed a communiqué that builds on a six-point peace plan proposed by Brazil and China earlier in the year. Amorim indicated that meetings would continue in New York under a "friends for peace" grouping.

Notably, Chinese President Xi Jinping had established a "no limits" partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022, shortly before Russian forces entered Ukraine. While Beijing asserts that it has not supplied weapons for use in the conflict, Western nations contend that Chinese companies are providing materials that support Russia’s war efforts.

In his address to the assembly, Zelenskiy questioned the rationale behind China and Brazil presenting an alternative to his own peace proposal. He argued that "alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called sets of principles" merely provide Moscow the opportunity to prolong the conflict.

When asked for his response to Zelenskiy’s remarks, Amorim stated that he was not there to address either Zelenskiy or Putin, but rather to propose a pathway to peace.