The Kremlin ruled out the possibility today of a Chinese proxy to stop the fighting in Ukraine, considering that Russia has no choice rather than continue her attack.

“Certainly China has a strong and effective capacity in terms of its mediation services”the Kremlin spokesman told reporters Dmitry Peskov.

“But the situation with Ukraine is complicated. There is no prospect of a political settlement. And for now we have no other solution but to continue the special military operation,” he added using the Russian authorities’ euphemism for the invasion of Ukraine.

Peskov was asked about the possibility of a Chinese mediation, since the French president Emmanuel Macron told Beijing that he was counting on his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to “bring Russia back to its senses”.

During a March summit in Moscow, Putin and Xi had emerged as strategic allies determined to resist US hegemony.

THE China, for its part, spoke of a peace plan, but this remains very vague and very theoretical, as Beijing insists on contradictory principles, such as respecting the territorial integrity of states – and therefore Ukraine – and defending Russia’s diplomatic and security interests.

Although Beijing officially declares itself neutral, Xi never condemned the Russian attack while he has not yet spoken with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine often emphasizes that peace requires the withdrawal of Russian forces from all of its territory. Moscow, for its part, wants the least Kiev to give up five oblasts annexed by Putin.