Ukraine's Foreign Ministry reacts to China's peace plan statement

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has announced that it has taken note of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's statement claiming that 26 countries were supposedly backing China's peace plan and that Ukraine and Russia had separately "confirmed most of the content" of its principles.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry noted that the Peace Summit would be held in Switzerland next week, where "all states that sincerely want peace to be restored should work together to ensure the Summit is [a] success rather than making efforts to undermine it".

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry pointed out that China "rightfully declares" respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries and "its intention to make every effort for peace".

"The participation of a high-ranking Chinese official could have provided an excellent opportunity to make a practical contribution to achieving just and lasting peace in Ukraine while also restoring its territorial integrity," the statement said.

The ministry noted that this would be an important signal of China's balanced stance, given that China and Russia have held four summits at leader level since the start of the full-scale invasion.

"Ukraine, as the side on whose territory the war takes place and the country that bears the full brunt of Russian aggression, must define what peace should look like. The only just foundation for achieving such peace is President Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula," the Foreign Ministry summarises.

During his meeting with his Turkish counterpart, as cited by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Wang Yi did not address Ukraine's primary demand that Russia withdraw its forces from all Ukrainian territory annexed since 2014 before any negotiations can commence, Bloomberg reported.

Russia will not attend the conference in Switzerland, calling the event biassed and the host country "openly hostile".

At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that the June summit might pave the way for increased engagement of Russian representatives in the negotiations, provided that the talks are based on Ukraine's Peace Formula (which Moscow also does not recognise).