The de-facto state of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine is a stalemate. President Zelenskiy is demanding, among other things, full withdrawal of Russian troops from all territories claimed by Ukraine, and for Russian officials to submit to war crime tribunals.
The list of territories claimed by Ukraine includes Crimea, which has effectively been a Russian province since 2014 and is a strategic corridor for Russia's access to the Black Sea. It also includes the Donbas and Luhansk Regions, which were locked in a civil war with Kyiv after voting to become independent in 2014. This condition is a non starter.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang Announced on February 20th that the government plans to introduce a peace deal for Russia and Ukraine. Foreign Policy Chief Wang Yi is scheduled to visit the Kremlin in the coming days.
The Foreign Minister to security conference: “China is deeply worried about the escalation of the Ukraine conflict and it possibly spiraling out of control... We urge certain countries to immediately stop fueling the fire, stop shifting blame to China and stop touting ‘Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.’”
There is speculation among US officials (nothing out of China) that the CCP may start sending weapons to Russia to assist the war effort.
“The concern that we have now is, based on information we have, that they’re considering providing lethal support,” Blinken told CBS’s Face the Nation shortly after he met with Wang. “And we’ve made very clear to them that that could cause a serious problem for us and in our relationship.” (The Guardian)
We'll see if Secretary of State Blinken ever comes up with evidence for this claim. To this point, the West has criticized China for declining to condemn the invasion via UN resolutions and continuing to buy energy exports from the country.
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