China refuses to attend Ukraine peace talks in Switzerland

China will not attend a Ukraine peace conference hosted by Switzerland next month, Reuters cited four sources familiar with the situation as saying. The Swiss government seeks to facilitate a peace process in Ukraine through the summit on June 15-16, but Moscow was not invited.

As the conditions to ensure the participation of both Russia and Ukraine did not meet, Beijing decided to turn down the invitation, three sources said. Recently, in an interview with Russia’s RIA state news agency, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said that Beijing supports a peace conference on the Ukraine war that would see equal participation of all parties.

“China supports a timely convening of an international peace conference, approved by the Russian and Ukrainian sides, with equal participation of all parties and fair discussion of all options for peace,” RIA cited the ambassador as saying.

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Despite this, Beijing expressed support for a peace conference recognized by both sides, with equal participation from all parties, as stated by a foreign ministry spokesperson on Monday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has suggested that China could organize a peace conference involving both Russia and Ukraine.

Ukraine in January invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to participate in the planned summit of world leaders in Switzerland. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this week urged US President Joe Biden to attend, but Washington has not confirmed who it will send. China has close ties with Russia and has refrained from criticising its invasion of Ukraine, but has previously offered to help mediate in the conflict.

With inputs from agencies.