China supports Trump's Ukraine peace initiative at G20

Wang Yi reacts as unseen South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers the keynote address at the welcome ceremony during the G20 Foreign Minister Meeting in Johannesburg. (Photo/AFP)

China has come out in support of US President Donald Trump's bid to strike a deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, at a G20 meeting in South Africa, while US allies rallied around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"China supports all efforts conducive to peace (in Ukraine), including the recent consensus reached between the United States and Russia," Wang Yi told other G20 foreign ministers gathered in Johannesburg on Thursday, according to a statement from his ministry.

"China is willing to continue playing a constructive role in the political resolution of the crisis," he added.

Wang did not reiterate the point he made at the Munich Security Conference last Friday that all stakeholders in the Russia-Ukraine conflict should participate in any peace talks.

Less than a month into his presidency, Trump has upended US policy on the war, scrapping a campaign to isolate Moscow with a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin and talks between senior US and Russian officials that have sidelined Ukraine.

Trump on Wednesday then denounced Zelenskyy as a "dictator," prompting statements of support for the Ukrainian president from G20 members such as Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The Trump administration said on Tuesday it had agreed to hold more talks with Russia on ending the nearly three-year long conflict after a 4-1/2-hour long meeting in Saudi Arabia.

Russia said the talks had been useful but hardened its demands, notably insisting it would not tolerate the NATO alliance granting membership to Ukraine.

While Zelenskyy accused Trump of living in a Russ ian "space of disinformation," Trump called Zelenskyy a "modestly successful comedian" and blamed him for starting the war with Russia in February 2022.

'No appetite' for another funding bill for Ukraine

Meanwhile, US House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Thursday that there is "no appetite" for another funding bill for Ukraine.

"There's no appetite for that," Johnson told Newsmax during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC when asked whether he sees another funding bill for the war in Ukraine.

"We have to bring it (the war) to an end. And I can tell you that our European allies understand the necessity as well," he added.

Johnson said Trump is trying to bring about an end to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, which will serve America's interests.

"But when you start a mediation and you start an arbitration between two parties, you don’t bring them into the room for that first meeting. You do it separately."

"So I think Zelenskyy complaining that he wasn't invited to the first meeting in Saudi Arabia with Russia is misplaced. I mean, what Trump's trying to do is do a level set, put the conditions in place for that real negotiation to happen," he added.

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Source: TRT