The United States has preempted talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow in the coming days, announcing its rejection of the ceasefire that China will demand "because it would serve Russia."

This came in the words of the coordinator of strategic communications at the US National Security Council, John Kirby, who said in remarks about the upcoming visit of the Chinese president to Russia that he hopes that Xi Jinping will communicate directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to hear from him, and not be satisfied with Putin's point of view only.

Kirby stressed that the ceasefire in Ukraine at the moment will not lead to a just peace, but will consolidate Russian progress and give the Kremlin an opportunity to prepare for a new offensive, stressing that the United States wants the conflict to end in a way that preserves the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Kirby accused Moscow of wanting to exploit any ceasefire to bolster its forces and control more of Ukraine's territory.

The United States, which leads a Western coalition to send weapons to Ukraine against Russia, sees the ceasefire as easing pressure on Russian forces and giving the Kremlin a chance to consolidate its control over large swathes of Ukrainian territory.

"We don't think it would be a step toward a just and lasting peace," Kirby said of a possible ceasefire, noting that President Joe Biden plans to speak by phone with his Chinese counterpart, but arrangements have not yet been made. "As far as I know, there has been no contact with the Chinese" to arrange such a call, he said.


U.S. officials are closely monitoring the situation to see if China's diplomatic support for Russia in the conflict will extend to military support, including ammunition or weapons.

John Kirby said Beijing did not "rule out the idea. "But we haven't seen any signs or confirmation that they've made a decision in that direction or actually sent weapons."

China's foreign minister said in a statement published by his ministry on Friday that "China fears that the crisis will escalate and spiral out of control. China hopes that all sides will maintain calm and restraint, resume peace talks as soon as possible, and return to the path of political settlement."

British Letter

In London, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping should use his visit to Moscow to encourage President Vladimir Putin to withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine.

"If China wants to play a serious role in restoring sovereignty to Ukraine, we would certainly welcome that," the spokesman told reporters.

"We believe that any agreement that is not based on Ukraine's sovereignty and right to self-determination is in no way a peace agreement. So we will continue to call on China, as we have done before, to join other countries around the world in demanding that Putin withdraw his troops."


Earlier on Friday, Beijing and Moscow announced the date of the Chinese president's visit to Russia between March 20 and 22, at the invitation of his Russian counterpart.

The Russian president's aide said that the two presidents will discuss the conflict in Ukraine, expressing Moscow's appreciation for Beijing's position on the crisis, adding that a large part of China's assessment of the situation in Ukraine is in line with the Russian vision.

The Kremlin said that within the framework of the talks, the two presidents intend to discuss the development of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation, and will sign a number of important documents.

China recently published a 12-point plan to resolve the Ukraine crisis peacefully, but Kiev did not accept it because it did not call for the withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory, and Western countries questioned the plan as Beijing did not condemn the Russian attack on Ukraine.

The Chinese and Russian presidents met last September on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and confirmed their intention to strengthen ties between their countries amid a crisis with the West.