“My first reaction to it is that it could stop at point one, which is to respect the sovereignty of all nations,” Jake Sullivan told CNN.
“Ukraine wasn’t attacking Russia. NATO wasn’t attacking Russia. The United States wasn’t attacking Russia,” he said.
“Russia has already lost this war.”
And at a press conference in Beijing, Ukrainian and EU diplomats urged China to do more to press Russia to end the conflict.
Zhanna Leshchynska, charge d’affaires at the Ukrainian embassy, called on Beijing to leverage its stated neutrality and “talk to both sides”.
“China should do everything in its power to stop the war and restore peace in Ukraine and urge Russia to withdraw its troops,” she said.
“We see the Chinese side mostly talk to Russia but not with Ukraine.”
Jorge Toledo, the EU ambassador to China, said Beijing has a “special responsibility” as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to uphold peace.
“Whether this is compatible with neutrality, I’m not sure, it depends on what neutrality means,” he said.
“China has to uphold and defend and promote these values that are being grossly violated by the aggressor in this war.”
STRATEGIC ALLIES
China has sought to position itself as a neutral party in the conflict while maintaining close ties with strategic ally Russia.
Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi met Wednesday with Putin and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow.
A readout following the meeting published by Chinese state news agency Xinhua quoted Wang saying China was willing to “deepen political trust” and “strengthen strategic coordination” with Russia.
Source: CNA
