China skips Malta talks on Ukraine, signals intent to pursue independent diplomacy

China's Foreign Ministry said Beijing would "work in its own way", commenting on the absence of its representative at the Malta summit

Dmytro Grinichenko

News editor at LIGA.net

October 30 2023, 13:20

Wang Wenbin (Photo: EPA/MARK R. CRISTINO)

Beijing will "work in its own way", Wang Wenbin, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, said at a briefing, commenting on the absence of its representative at the summit in Malta, where the principles of restoring peace in Ukraine were discussed, news agency Ukrinform reports.

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According to him, the People's Republic of China "always plays a constructive role for the ceasefire and political settlement of the crisis."

"China will continue to promote peace talks and work towards a political settlement in its own way," Wang Wenbin said.

In Malta, the number of represented countries and international organizations, compared to the August meeting in Saudi Arabia, increased by one and a half times – from 42 to 66.

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REFERENCE. China declares its "neutral" position on Russia's war against Ukraine, which Beijing calls the "Ukrainian crisis". The PRC repeatedly parroted the cliché of Russian propaganda that Moscow was provoked into war by NATO and the USA, and also did not condemn the war that Russia is waging to destroy the Ukrainian people. However, at the same time, it declared her commitment to the principle of territorial integrity and the inviolability of established borders. Chinese officials regularly call for talks and say they are "for world peace".

On June 25, 2023, informal international consultations on the "fundamentals of the world" organized by Ukraine took place in Denmark with the participation of representatives of many leading countries.

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On August 5-6, a summit was held in Saudi Arabia, at which representatives of approximately 40 countries of the world worked on the development of key principles on how to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the Malta conference that the Ukrainian peace formula can become universal, despite the fact that all wars are different.

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