China isn’t an impartial actor “in any way” in the Russia–Ukraine conflict, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on March 21.
Beijing’s “12-point” proposal, which lacks a concrete plan, has been dismissed by the West as a ploy to buy Putin time to regroup his forces and consolidate his front line.
“They haven’t condemned this invasion. They haven’t stopped buying Russian oil and Russian energy,” Kirby said.
While Xi has flown “all the way to Moscow” for a three-day visit, he “hasn’t talked once to President Zelenskyy, hasn’t visited Ukraine, hasn’t bothered to avail himself for the Ukrainian objective,” Kirby said.
“He and his regime keep parroting the Russian propaganda that this is somehow a war of the West on Russia that is some sort of existential threat to Mr. Putin,“ he said. ”That’s just a bunch of malarkey. Ukraine poses no threats to anybody, let alone Russia.”
Xi and Putin on March 21 signed a joint declaration to deepen the countries’ “comprehensive strategic partnership,” solidifying their “no limits” partnership declared one month before Putin’s February 2022 invasion.
For Beijing to demonstrate its objectivity on the issue requires Xi to engage Ukraine and “get the other side,” according to Kirby.
“I just don’t think right now that they can be seen that way,” he said.
Xi had been expected to call Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the Chinese leader’s meeting with Putin, but Kyiv has said that the call hasn’t been confirmed. Zelenskyy said on March 21 that Kyiv had invited Beijing to join a Ukrainian peace formula but is still waiting for an answer. Both Kyiv and the United States insist on a full Russian troop withdrawal for the war to end.
China has become Russia’s most crucial trade partner amid sanctions from the West since the war. Russia was China’s second-largest source of crude oil in 2022, after Saudi Arabia. The low-cost Russian barrels shunned by the West likely saved billions of dollars for Chinese refiners last year by some calculations.
Xi and Putin had 4 1/2 hours of “informal” talks after the Chinese leader’s arrival on March 20, which saw the two addressing each other as “dear friends” before sitting down for a state dinner.
While noting the growing partnership between the two countries, Kirby sees the relationship as no more than a “marriage of convenience,” rather than an “alliance.” For Xi, Russia serves as a counterweight to U.S. influence, while Putin, whose friends on the international stage can be counted “on one hand mostly,” is leaning on Xi as a potential backer as his military is “getting embarrassed constantly,” according to Kirby.
“What we’ve seen is, these are two countries that are growing close together, that see in each other useful purposes for pushing back, a rule-based order around the world,” he said. “In fact, they would love nothing better—both countries—to see the rest of the world play by their rules rather than the ones that are enshrined on the U.N. charter that everybody else is following.”
Putin and Xi also cautioned against any steps that could plunge the Ukraine conflict into an “uncontrollable phase,” warning there are no winners in a nuclear war.
Kirby said the statements from the Moscow meeting so far give no indication that Xi’s visit would help bring the war to an end any time soon.
He also said the United States doesn’t want a ceasefire in Ukraine because it would allow Russia to keep its territorial gains and recuperate.
“A ceasefire right now, freezing the lines where they are, basically gives him the time and space he needs to try to reequip, to reman, to make up for that resource expenditure,” Kirby said.
So far, there’s no sign that Beijing has given lethal weapons to Russia, he said, noting that would also be counter to China’s interests.
Asked whether the Moscow developments will affect U.S. President Joe Biden’s future meeting with Xi, Kirby’s answer was negative: The president will still “keep the communication lines open” with China and pursue another conversation with Xi “at the appropriate time.”
