Zelensky says China working to 'prevent' countries from attending peace summit

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00:00We're going to discuss the latest then from our international affairs editor Philip Tell.

00:03Philip, good to have you with us. I mean, it's easy to understand, isn't it,

00:06why Zelensky would be critical with Russia, but he seems to also be annoyed with China here.

00:11Well, the news this morning, Stuart, is that China has actually denied that it's doing

00:15anything wrong. And this is all the problem, I think, as far as relations go between Ukraine

00:21and China, China and the West, because I think what Volodymyr Zelensky is feeling is that China

00:28is really playing a double game. At one stage, it's saying that it's not supporting the Russian

00:36war effort, that it remains neutral in the conflict in Ukraine. That's already irked the

00:42Ukrainians who believe that China should be more vocal in criticising the Russians. And at the same

00:48time, China is still taking advantage of its trade deals with Russia and providing spare parts to the

00:55Russians that then they can use to build missiles and to build drones and all sorts of equipment

01:02that they can then use in the war in Ukraine. This is something that the Ukrainians say they

01:07would like to see ended. And so what I think the feeling from Ukraine is and also from Volodymyr

01:15Zelensky is that China could certainly do more. And on top of that, because there is this big

01:20summit coming up in a couple of weeks' time in Switzerland, that Russia is pressuring some

01:27countries not to take part by saying that it's going to withdraw aid to those countries and

01:34relationships with those countries. And now China is also doing the same thing in a bid to catapult

01:39this summit from taking place, because what China wants to do is to create its own summit.

01:44If you look at trade between China and Russia, it's gone up a lot since the war in Ukraine

01:54started. $300 million of dual-use items are sent monthly to Russia. 70% of machine tools,

02:0490% of microelectronics. The total trade in 2023 was $240 billion. That's up 64%

02:12since 2021. So there is a lot of anger on the part of the Ukrainians that China really could

02:19be doing more to try to support them and notably be much more critical of the Russians and their

02:25offensive in Ukraine. So in Zelensky's eyes then, China basically putting trade, its own regional

02:30influence ahead of peace then? Yeah, and there is the regional influence aspect as well as the trade.

02:37What China is attempting to do is to get around the sanctions that are imposed on Russia by selling

02:44it vast amounts of oil and gas. China is also trying to boost its international standing as

02:50a peacemaker. We've just seen this summit taking place in China in the last couple of days to

02:55discuss the situation in Gaza. It's trying to put itself on the world stage as a country that can

03:03intervene to try to work out a peace deal. And I think what the Chinese are arguing back is that,

03:10well, any summit that's going to take place in Switzerland that Russia is not invited to is not

03:14going to be a summit that's going to work out a peace deal with the Russians. So we need to have

03:21a peace summit that both Ukraine and Russia are at. And that is something that the Chinese have

03:25said they are willing to organise. So I think all of this is quite a lot of rivality between

03:31different world powers and, of course, the role of the United States that China sees as its main

03:37rival in the region. Presumably then, Philip, this all means that we're going to have a peace

03:41conference in Switzerland. Russia not there. I mean, is there any point? And China not there

03:47either. Well, I think there is a point. I mean, there are a lot of countries that have said they

03:52are going to take part in this peace summit. A few details about that. It's on June the 15th

03:58and 16th. That's in a couple of weeks' time at the Bergenstock Resort in Switzerland. 160 states

04:05have been invited, 106. So that is quite a feat, have said that they are going to take part in this

04:11summit. But both China and Russia are not attending. China is not going to attend. It

04:17said it won't. Russia, of course, is not invited. What Zelensky is saying is this is a summit. It's

04:22not about getting more weapons. It's not about stepping up the war effort. What he wants to

04:27achieve is more world weight in favor of Ukraine and Ukraine being the victim in this conflict.

04:36The second point is that what Ukraine wants to obtain in this is nuclear security. It doesn't

04:42want Russia to use its nuclear weapons. It wants food security. It wants food to be able to get

04:46into Ukraine and also for prisoners of war to be exchanged, most notably those Ukrainian children

04:53who've been taken to Russia. So I think that is the main objective of this summit. It's going to

04:57take place. The big question so far now is will the United States be sending President Biden or

05:02Vice President Kamala Harris? If they don't go, that's going to be a serious blow to the Ukrainians

05:07in the face of Russia, which will probably applaud the fact that Joe Biden won't be there.

05:11We don't know just yet, but Joe Biden is right in the middle, as we know, in an election campaign

05:16face to face with Donald Trump. And I think that might be a more important issue for him to deal

05:20with than going to this summit. We'll know, I think, in the next few days.

05:25Philip, thanks so much. Philip Taylor, international affairs editor,

05:27right here for us here on France 24.

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