[Photo of rusty cars in Borodianka, Ukraine. Photo Credit to Unsplash]

On February 24th, 2023, 1 year since the Russia and Ukraine war started, China called for a truce between the two countries, in opposition to the USA.

Xi Jinping, the President of China, stood on the side of Russia, and requested a truce to the Russia and Ukraine war. 

Currently, Russia controls parts of Ukraine, and a truce would mean that Ukrainian territory would remain under Russian control. 

Xi Jinping even invited Lukashenko, the president of Belarus. 

Belarus was regarded as one of the only countries who supported Russia in the war before China began its support of Russia. 

Western countries, including the USA, called a truce inappropriate and that China had no right to be the main moderator in the war.

On the other hand, Russia supported China and stated that China was contributing to finding a peaceful end to the war. 

On the other hand, Joe Biden, the president of the USA, says that China’s desire for a truce is disadvantageous to Ukraine. 

Furthermore, it is now expected that Biden and other Western countries will increase their support to Ukraine. 

While the US and other western countries support Ukraine, Russia’s power has weakened. 

Russia has requested China to support them with various weapons including missiles and drones.

China’s relationship to Russia makes refusing such a request difficult. China has now begun further considering selling weapons to Russia. 

Though China stands for Russia in the war, most of the world has stood in support of Ukraine. 

That is because of the global perception of Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine, as well as the atrocities committed against Ukrainian civilians.

The Russia-Ukraine war started partly because Ukraine was trying to join NATO, a military alliance that started during the Cold War in opposition to the Soviet bloc. 

NATO includes members of the  most powerful countries from Europe and North America such as Canada, USA, France, and the UK. 

Ukraine’s intention to join NATO serves as a threat to Russian military power due to the countries’ geographic proximity bringing NATO forces closer to Russia. 

Thus, it contributed to Russia’s decision to attack Ukraine, threatening Ukraine’s sovereign ability to declare itself a member of NATO.