Making things bettah in Jeddah
Beijing is still pushing for peace in Ukraine.
On Saturday, Special Representative for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui led a delegation to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to participate in Ukraine peace talks.
ICYMI: In May, Li embarked on a 12-day Eurotrip to assess the feasibility of a political settlement to the Ukraine crisis.
- That effort didn’t produce a breakthrough, but Li vowed that China would continue pushing for peace.
42 countries attended the Jeddah meeting (Russia not among them), which was focused on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan.
- We don’t know much about China’s contribution, but according to the Wall Street Journal the Chinese delegation was open to meeting again in a similar format and without Russia present.
Get smart: Involvement in the Russia-Ukraine peace process has two major upsides for Beijing:
- It can position itself as a global peacemaker.
- It may be able to hasten the end of a destructive war that has weakened a key geopolitical partner, destabilized the world economy, and strengthened NATO.
Get smarter: Ukrainian and Russian negotiating positions are still poles apart.
- But incremental efforts by Beijing could eventually bring Moscow and Kyiv to the negotiating table.