China Offers 12-Point Peace Plan for Russia, Ukraine as Biden Promises Escalation, Pours Another $10 Billion into War

On Friday, the Chinese government marked the one year anniversary of Russia's invasion by calling for an end to war in Ukraine, releasing a 12-point "peace plan." While it encourages dialogue over endless fighting, the plan has been met with scepticism by those in the west over aspects that appear favorable to Russia and Chinese interests.

At the same time, President Biden announced that the United States would be enforcing a series of new sanctions on Russian companies tied to the country's defense and financial sectors. Biden's treasury secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday announced another $10 billion in economic assistance for Ukraine. The amount of US aid, in cash, weapons, and assistance is now upwards of $200 billion.

"Providing economic assistance has made Ukraine's resistance possible by supporting the home front, funding critical public services, and helping keep the government running. In the coming months, we expect to provide around $10 billion in additional economic support for Ukraine," said Yellen.

According to the Daily Mail, China's 12-point plan calls for "an end to Western sanctions, negotiations which would likely see Ukraine ceding territory, a NATO pull-back from its eastern borders and reconstruction efforts that would probably benefit Chinese contractors."

This was all cloaked, however, in a veil of supposed good will and a desire to see the conflict end for the interest of all involved.

"Conflict and war benefit no one," the CCP wrote. "All parties must stay rational and exercise restraint, avoid fanning the flames and aggravating tensions, and prevent the crisis from deteriorating further or even spiraling out of control."

"All parties should support Russia and Ukraine in working in the same direction and resuming direct dialogue as quickly as possible, so as to gradually deescalate the situation and ultimately reach a comprehensive ceasefire."

"The security of a country should not be pursued at the expense of others," the CCP continued. "The security of a region should not be achieved by strengthening or expanding military blocs."

China's intentions were scrutinized by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who pointed out that the CCP "doesn't have much credibility," since it never really condemned Putin's illegal invasion, and signed an agreement with him just days before it began.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU will "look at the principles" of China's plan, but "against the backdrop that China has taken sides."

While announcing the aforementioned sanctions against Russia, the White House stated that it was targeting "actors tied to Russia's defense and technology industry, including those responsible for backfilling Russian stocks of sanctioned items or enabling Russian sanctions evasion."

One of the actors mentioned by the Commerce Department was the CCP. In recent days there have been fears that China may be contemplating sending weapons to Russia, something Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky said would lead to a "world war."
 

According to the Hill, under secretary of State for political affairs Victoria Nuland said that the US will be "putting other constraints on entities, Chinese-based or Chinese subs of entities in Europe, which we think are active in evading sanctions.”

“We know,” she continued, “that the Russians have consistently been asking the Chinese for weapons. We also know that some Chinese companies, whether the government is witting or not, have been sneaking up to the edge and trying to provide some support."