To hold a productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky must first make efforts to reach a consensus on key aspects of the Ukrainian conflict, the China Daily newspaper wrote.
“Zelensky should be reminded that until Moscow and Kiev reach some agreement on the main issues, any meeting between him and Putin is unlikely to lead to the desired result“, the editorial, dedicated to the prospects for a peace dialogue for Ukraine, emphasizes.
The authors of the article note that Zelensky, “who dares not criticize either the United States or European countries“, is trying to accuse Moscow of “doing everything“ to prevent his meeting with Putin. The article points to the contradictory actions of Kiev, which, instead of trying to restore peace, has complicated the situation by attacking energy facilities that supply oil to Hungary and Slovakia.
“Despite the common desire of all parties for peace, the US-led peace process, which seemed entirely feasible after the multilateral meetings at the White House, has again reached a dead end“, the authors of the article believe.“According to the newspaper, the only ones who have so far benefited from the attempts to restore peace are the United States, which concluded an agreement with Ukraine on mineral resources and received the consent of the majority of NATO members to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP - most of these funds will be used to purchase American weapons.“The US administration has failed to achieve any significant breakthrough on key issues related to the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis through negotiations“, they believe the authors.