Putin: China has peace plan for Ukraine when West is ready
CTV
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday a Chinese peace plan could provide a basis for a settlement of the fighting in Ukraine when the West is ready for it.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise visit Tuesday to Kyiv, stealing some of the global attention from Asian rival President Xi Jinping of China, who is in Moscow to show support for Russia against the West over the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.
The two visits, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) apart, highlighted the nearly 13-month-old war's repercussions for international diplomacy as countries line up behind Moscow or Kyiv. They follow a week in which China and Japan both enjoyed diplomatic successes that have emboldened their foreign policy.
After talks with Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin said a Chinese peace plan could provide a basis for a settlement of the fighting in Ukraine when the West is ready for it, but he added that Kyiv's Western allies so far have shown no interest in that.
"It looks like the West indeed intends to fight Russia until the last Ukrainian," Putin said, pointing out at a British plan to provide Ukraine with tank rounds containing depleted uranium. "If that happens, Russia will respond accordingly, given that the collective West is starting to use weapons with a nuclear component."
He did not elaborate.
U.S. officials have said any peace plan coming from the Putin-Xi meeting would be unacceptable to Washington because it would only ratify Moscow's conquests to date and give Russia time to plan for a renewed offensive. Kishida, who is to chair the Group of Seven summit in May, will meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital, coinciding with Xi's talks for a second day with Putin in the Russian capital.
Kishida will "show respect to the courage and patience of the Ukrainian people who are standing up to defend their homeland under President Zelenskyy's leadership, and show solidarity and unwavering support for Ukraine as head of Japan and chairman of G-7," during his visit to Ukraine, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in announcing his trip to Kyiv.
