China's state-run Global Times emphasized the significance of Chinese diplomat Wang Yi's recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The newspaper claimed that this meeting marks a pivotal moment in China's ascent to global dominance, as it is now widely recognized that only China can mediate a resolution to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, according to Breitbart News.

The Global Times' Claims

The Global Times argued that finding a formula for peace that is acceptable to both sides is extremely challenging, given that Kiev is heavily influenced by Washington, which, according to the publication, prefers to prolong the conflict in order to undermine Moscow and impose its will by force.

“Since Kiev is deeply influenced by Washington, which is not interested in an immediate ceasefire but prefers a prolonged conflict to keep undermining Moscow and change the status quo by force, it is really hard to see a feasible formula for peace that both sides can accept,” the Global Times stated.

However, with the United States out of the picture, the article suggested that Wang was able to engage in peaceful discussions with Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about the prospects for peace in Ukraine.

The Global Times portrayed Putin as an affable, peace-loving leader with whom China could work toward achieving a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

During his recent visit to Ukraine, Wang promoted China's forthcoming "white paper" on peace, which the Ukrainian officials expressed interest in studying when it becomes available.

Chinese propagandists argued that the Western world is unable to resolve the ongoing conflict in Ukraine because it is too preoccupied with assigning blame for the initial invasion, and therefore, China must take the initiative to act as a mediator for peace.

“If the West refuses to admit that some of Russia’s security concerns are legitimate and reasonable, then they will just repeat the mistakes they had made with NATO’s expansion in the past decades that eventually led to the current conflict,” the Global Times said.

Zelensky's Response

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to express doubt regarding China's promotion of its yet-to-be-released peace plan.

“China [has] told us they have such an initiative. But I have not seen the document yet,” Zelensky said at a press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

“I think it is a very good fact in general that China started talking about Ukraine and sent some signals. We’ll draw some conclusions after we see the specifics of what they offer,” Zelensky said, expressing a willingness to meet with China to discuss its proposals after they are published.

Earlier this week, Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine has already presented a "peace formula" to the U.N. General Assembly, which Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated should be the "top priority," regardless of any proposals put forth by China.

Zelensky's plan calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory and for any abuses committed by them to be tried as war crimes. These specific provisions are unlikely to be included in the Chinese peace plan, especially as the Russian government has already dismissed Zelensky's proposals outright.