Ukraine proposes that China act as security guarantor – Kuleba

SATURDAY, 30 APRIL 2022, 21:33

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine has proposed that China act as one of the guarantors of security to end the war with Russia.

He said this in an interview for Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

"We used to consider the Budapest Memorandum an important security agreement for Ukraine, but unfortunately it did not bring real security to Ukraine. Now Ukraine is exploring the possibility of obtaining security guarantees from permanent members of the UN Security Council and other major powers, including China. Our suggestion for China to be one of the guarantors of Ukraine's security, is a sign of our respect for and trust in the People's Republic of China", Kuleba said.

He expressed his hope that China would call on Russia to cease fire in the sense that escalation needs to be avoided.

"This will be an important step in maintaining peace and preventing further humanitarian catastrophes. All sides, including Russia, have seen that the war against Ukraine is wrong. All problems and concerns should be resolved through negotiations, not by force. We hope that China will continue to take a positive stance towards Russia, urging it to end its aggression, lift the blockade on international trade and respect the territorial integrity of its neighbours", he said.

Xinhua also published an interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday. He said that the Russian and Ukrainian delegations "discuss the possible draft agreement by video conference almost every day".

"The document should contain many elements of the post-conflict situation, for instance, the permanent neutral, non-nuclear, non-aligned and demilitarised status of Ukraine, as well as security guarantees. Denazification, recognition of new geopolitical realities, lifting of sanctions, the status of the Russian language and other questions are also on the agenda", he said.

Lavrov also said that one possible solution would be to set up a guarantor agency, which would include permanent members of the UN Security Council, including Russia and China.

As is known, Ukraine seeks the same security guarantees from the West as NATO countries.

According to President Zelenskyy, Ukraine has not yet received a list of countries that have confirmed their agreement to provide security guarantees, but clearly different countries are ready to provide different guarantees.

Earlier, the president said that there are still no security guarantees in Ukraine, and the outcome of the talks with Russia may not be peace.