Dr Olalekan Babatunde, Research Fellow, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution says China has maintained neutrality in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine because of the ‘no limit’ diplomatic ties between China and Russia and the cordial relations between China and Ukraine.
The foreign policy expert disclosed this on Tuesday in an exclusive interview on China’s role in the year-long conflict that has claimed over 41,000 lives from both sides.
His words, “China is a superpower and has positioned itself strategically in this crisis between Russia and Ukraine. China has been very mature in terms of its engagement because it did not endorse nor condemn the war.
“China has played a neutral position and it has been engaging with Russia because of the no-limit relations agreement between both countries. China is standing on this commitment and has also provided humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. So China has placed itself in a strategic way which is commendable. China is not in a position of violence or war. China wants peace and the settlement of this conflict through multilateralism, negotiation and diplomacy.”
Dr Babatunde stated that China did not support the unilateral imposition of sanctions on Russia by the United Nations, United States and its European allies because it is against international practice.
“China considered it as being unilateral and against international practice. China, India, Saudi Arabia and others did not support the unilateral imposition of sanctions on Russia. That is why today, China is still engaging in trade relationships with Russia. Don’t forget that China is also a member of BRICS alongside Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, hence has the liberty to relate with Russia at all levels. China considers relationships very strongly and sees no reason to stop relating with Russia.”
On whether China can serve as a mediator to resolve the conflict, Dr Olalekan expressed optimism that China is willing to pursue dialogue but may face stiff opposition from the United States of America and its allies fueling the conflict through the supply of arms to Ukraine.
“The US will want the conflict to linger without any peaceful resolution. They want the war to rage on to a point where Russia will be defeated. The Chinese have a lot of stake in this conflict too because of its issues with Taiwan and the United States. Any move from China in resolving this war will not be seen by the US as being neutral. This is because the Americans believe that if the war ends today, it is unlikely that Russia will hands-off occupied Ukrainian territories setting a precedent for China to annex Taiwan aggressively or through non-aggression.
“Personally, I don’t see the war coming to end soon because the stakeholders, the superpowers, and the allies that are expected to be making moves for peace talks are the ones supplying arms to Ukraine,” he added.
Recall that on 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has caused tens of thousands of deaths on both sides and instigated Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II.
