China’s Position on Russia-Ukraine War
Tuesday, Feb. 18, a U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov and other key Russian officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to discuss a “peace settlement for Ukraine.” Notably, representatives from Ukraine were not present at the meeting, a fact which Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy railed against. President Zelenskyy argued that Ukraine would “never accept a peace deal” if Ukraine was not present at the negotiations.
U.S. and Russian Delegations meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to discuss the end of the Russo-Ukrainian War. (Photo: Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)
In response to questions on the exclusion of Ukrainian representatives in the talks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun stated that while China is “glad to see all efforts committed to peace,” including what occurred between the U.S. and Russia, they “hope that all parties concerned and stakeholders will take part in the peace talk process.” The ambiguous statement could refer to any number of stakeholders, not the least of which could include Ukraine and the European actors. Further, Guo stated that “China will continue to support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis [and] maintain communication with relevant parties and play a constructive role,” indicating that perhaps China itself should be included in that list of stakeholders.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun discussing Chinese involvement in Russo-Ukrainian War negotiations on Feb. 18, 2025 (Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The People’s Republic of China)
China has been involved in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict in a number of ways, meaning that their involvement is not so far-fetched. China supports Russia’s “legitimate security interests” as a representation of its own dynamic with Taiwan, and is careful in its language and actions in order to not implicate its own intentions. Further, Sino-Russian relations have been quite close recently, especially with the signing of the “no limits” joint statement between the two countries’ leaders at the start of the war. Since then, China has provided continual military and technological support, as well as assistance “circumventing Western sanctions” on Russia. As a result of this connection, President Trump previously suggested that China would be involved in negotiations, using its considerable “economic sway over Russia to help end the conflict.” Importantly, however, it seems China may have turned towards a different perspective on the conflict as a result of its predicted exclusion in negotiations. In recent months, there have been no mentions of the joint statement, a slowing of its transactions and assets within Russia, as well as Chinese stalling in the development of a new oil pipeline between the two countries.
Prior to the negotiations conducted this week, China had proposed mediating a summit to help end the conflict. Evidently, that did not occur. Some argue that “China’s role in upcoming peace negotiations will likely be limited” due to European and Ukrainian requests for security guarantees. Perhaps this assumption will change with the current unexpected negotiation arrangements, or the modified perspective on Chinese involvement that Ukrainian officials have promoted, “urging EU representatives not to lump Beijing together with Iran and North Korea in terms of support for Russia.”
One mode of engagement in the conflict which China has employed more recently is increased contact with Ukraine, with President Zelenskyy arguing that it is “important for [Ukraine] to engage China and use its influence to pressure [Russian President] Putin to end the war.” Zelenskyy indicated that the country had “received little attention from Beijing” until recently. These discussions with Ukranian officials come amidst “a flurry of diplomacy” with the EU as well.
Importantly, any Chinese discussions involving the Russo-Ukrainian war will surely be tempered by the fact of more than 11,000 North Korean troops fighting for Russia, which has helped prolong the conflict. While China’s official position is that “Russia-North Korea military cooperation is their own matter,” some have argued that “Chinese interlocutors sometimes also profess dismay as a way to entice U.S. and European officials to implore China to intervene.” That intervention would surely involve the fact that China has some leverage over the bellicose North Korea through its provision of food and fuel to the country.
Regardless, China evidently hopes to be involved in future negotiations, and is searching for a way in. China’s interests are multifaceted, potentially based in protecting or ensuring control over its relationship with Russia. Their hope for end of the war negotiations would involve promoting the ideological underpinnings of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, with “legitimate security interests” as the “right of major powers to assert a veto over the political and security relationships of its neighbors, and to enforce them militarily,” promoted as a viable international standard.