China has already missed an opportunity to mediate in Russia's war

China remains an important partner of the EU, but has already missed the opportunity to be a mediator in the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine.

This is reported by Ukrinform, referring to the statement of the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, during a discussion on the sidelines of the European Summit on Security and Defense.

"We must act very carefully and diplomatically so as not to push Russia into China's hands and ask China to use its influence to stop the war. It's a good thing that President Xi called President Zelensky. When we refine our (EU, - ed.) strategy towards China, we have to be very demanding that China acts according to its own responsibility - that country is a permanent member of the UN Security Council," Borrell said.

He stressed that although China has a great influence on Russia and can help stop the aggression, it has already missed an opportunity to play a mediating role, because its "neutrality" was rather pro-Russian.

"Yes, China supports Russia, but so far it has not provided Russia with military assistance. We have to be careful not to push Russia into China's hands. But I don't think China feels very comfortable with what's going on there (in Russia, ed.)," Borrell noted.

Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 12/05/2023