More to China’s role in Ukraine peace efforts than meets the eye

On August 27, Li held a press conference to conclude his fourth round of shuttle diplomacy. His latest diplomatic mission, which took him to Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia between July 28 and August 7, coincided with Ukraine’s incursion into Russian territory.

During the press briefing, Li made a pointed but veiled critique of Western support for Ukraine. He expressed concern that the West’s lack of conditions for Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western-supplied weapons was exacerbating the conflict, and emphasised that recent developments on the battlefield confirmed these fears.