Dmytro Medvedev held a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. During the negotiations, the Russian side again put forward its ultimate demands to Ukraine, and China, for its part, provided a platform for their dissemination, hiding behind the rhetoric of “peaceful initiatives”. About this informs ISW.
The message states that Xi Jinping continues to support the Kremlin’s propaganda theses, which justify aggression against Ukraine, and calls for the actual surrender of Kyiv.
During the talks, Xi reiterated China’s standard position on the conflict in Ukraine, calling for “de-escalation” and promoting the “Friends of Peace” initiative, which in practice strengthens Russia’s position.
Medvedev, in turn, declared Russia’s readiness for negotiations with Kyiv. But only on the condition that Ukraine recognizes the “realities on the ground”, which actually means capitulation to Moscow.
“Medvedev reinforced these demands with a reference to Putin’s statement from June 2024, in which he stated that Ukrainian troops must “completely withdraw” from the Ukrainian-controlled territory of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions before Russia agrees to enter into negotiations. Russian the “negotiation” option, which takes into account the “realities on the ground”, demands from Ukraine almost 20 percent of its territory and millions of people living under Russian occupation,– says the message.
