The U.S. is preparing to pressure moscow through China, but Xi is in no hurry to speed up the peace process — political analyst Ihor Chalenko
The U.S. is already actively involving China in the diplomatic track for resolving the russian-Ukrainian war, but Beijing is not yet showing readiness to accelerate the process. Instead, Washington may use the China factor as a tool to pressure the kremlin if russia continues to block agreements. Political analyst Ihor Chalenko, head of the Center for Analysis and Strategies, stated this in a comment to OstroV.
According to him, the U.S. position after Geneva has become multidirectional, and one of the key avenues is working with China as an influential actor capable of pressuring moscow at critical moments.
“The United States, as we can see, are already communicating with China. And I think that at the next stages, when moscow refuses to accept certain positions, they will try to apply pressure directly through China”, - Chalenko noted.
At the same time, China, in the expert’s assessment, is in no hurry to show activity in the topic of negotiations, since it views it exclusively through the prism of strategic relations with the U.S.
“China at the moment does not express a desire to accelerate the peace process. But we understand that this is tied to US-China relations. Much here will depend on Trump’s maneuver — whether he will make certain concessions to China or not”, - the political analyst explained.
According to him, key issues of bilateral geopolitics may become bargaining chips between Washington and Beijing.
“Whether on the topic of Taiwan or on the topic of trade — there may be different demands from all sides. But it’s obvious that the Ukraine card is intended to be played in exactly this way”, - Chalenko emphasized.
The political analyst noted that involving China could become an important tool for restraining russia, but only if there is mutual interest between Beijing and Washington in reaching new agreements.
As previously reported, results of the talks in the U.S: Zelensky states there was “constructiveness in the conversation”, and Umerov speaks of “substantial progress”.