US ready to engage in negotiations on Ukraine but ‘nature of peace’ matters most: Blinken

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) : The United States is ready to engage in diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine but what matters is the nature of peace that would ensue, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.

“The United States has long made it clear even before this war that we’re prepared to engage in any meaningful diplomatic effort to stop Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. But history teaches us that it’s the nature of peace that matters,” Blinken told the UN Security Council.

Any peace that legitimizes Russia’s “aggression” will weaken the United Nations Charter, Blinken added.

Blinken also said that the UNSC should reject calls for peace in Ukraine from countries that support Russia’s military operation.

Earlier in the day, China released a 12-point document titled “China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis,” promoting, among other things, respect of the sovereignty of all countries, the cessation of hostilities and the resumption of peace talks between Moscow and Kiev.

German Federal Government Deputy Spokesman Wolfgang Buechner in turn said that China’s initiative on the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine contains valuable suggestions and should be discussed between Beijing and Kiev directly.

“It is good that Beijing comes up with its own ideas. The plan contains a number of important points, such as a clear rejection of the use of nuclear weapons. At the same time, it lacks important elements, from our point of view,” Buechner told a briefing.

This primarily concerns the lack of a point specifying the complete withdrawal of troops, a condition put forth by Ukraine and fully supported by Germany, the spokesman said.

“It is important that China discusses its ideas directly with Ukraine,” Buchner said, emphasizing that Germany is supportive of peace initiatives in general.

The President of Switzerland Ignazio Daniele Giovanni Cassis said his is ready to mediate the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“Switzerland is ready at any time to bring everyone around the table in order to work for a better respect of international humanitarian law and ultimately for peace,” Cassis told the Security Council members.

Moscow values Beijing’s desire to contribute to the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine by peaceful means, and Russia supports this position, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.

“We value the sincere desire of our Chinese friends to contribute to the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine by peaceful means,” Zakharova said in a statement.

Russia agrees with the view of China on the matter, on the respect of the UN Charter, the of international law, including humanitarian law, the indivisibility of security, and considers all restrictive measures unauthorized by the UN Security Council to be illegitimate, the spokeswoman added.