At present, 90 countries and organizations have signed up to participate in the Ukraine Peace Plan Summit, which will be held in the Swiss Alpine resort of Lucerne on Saturday (June 15) and Sunday. The meeting will seek support for peace proposals for Ukrainian President Zelensky, including the demand for Russia to fully withdraw its troops from Ukraine. China has announced that it will not participate in the summit, while also lobbying various governments to support its six-point peace plan.
According to a report from Reuters on Thursday (June 13), 10 diplomats based in Beijing mentioned that the Chinese government has been lobbying various governments to support its alternative plan. One diplomat said that China’s activities are a “clever boycott” of the global conference.
When explaining why it is not attending the summit, China claims that it has been working to get developing countries to join the six-point peace plan it released last month in conjunction with Brazil.
Ukrainian President Zelensky has accused China of helping Russia disrupt the meeting, while the Chinese Foreign Ministry has denied this accusation.
Ukraine, the United States, and other Western countries are strongly urging China (the CCP) to participate in the talks, seeking legitimacy for the summit and reaching broad consensus on the roadmap for the future peace process. However, China argues that many developing countries agree with its view of the conference.
These diplomats say that as the summit approaches, China is intensifying its diplomatic efforts through meetings with visiting foreign dignitaries, phone calls, and leaving messages for foreign delegations on platforms like WeChat.
The Chinese special envoy for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, visited Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates last month, meeting with diplomatic officials from some developing countries’ embassies in Beijing.
China’s six-point peace plan calls for an international peace conference to be convened “at an appropriate time recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation from all parties and fair discussion of all peace plans.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested that China arrange such a meeting. Putin expressed support for China’s peace crisis plan and stated that China fully understands the reasons behind the plan.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated last week that 45 countries have expressed support for the plan, and over 20 countries have joined or are “seriously considering” the proposal.
The impact of China’s lobbying cannot be definitively determined, but the number of registered attendees for the Lucerne summit is slightly lower than the 107 confirmed in early June.
In February 2022, in the days leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China and Russia announced the establishment of an “unlimited” partnership.