EU calls China's Ukrainian peace plan 'wishful thinking'

GENEVA

China's proposal to resolve the war in Ukraine is "not a peace plan," the EU foreign policy chief said on Friday, calling it "wishful thinking."

Speaking at an event held by the European University Institute in Florence, Josep Borrell said: "The only thing that can be called a peace plan is (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy's proposal."

"The Chinese peace plan, well, it's not a peace plan. It's a set of wishful considerations, wishful thinking, but it's not a peace plan," Borrell said. "If you want peace, push Russia to withdraw."

Zelenskyy's peace plan calls on Russia to withdraw from all Ukrainian territory, while Beijing's peace proposal, presented by the Chinese Foreign Ministry in February, calls for each party's security concerns to be addressed.

Reiterating that the support for Ukraine should increase, he said that if Kyiv surrenders, Russian troops would be "on the Polish border" and Ukraine would become a "second Belarus."

He noted that without Western support, this would happen "in a matter of days."

Regarding relations between the EU and China, Borrell said that regardless of the bloc's close ties with the US, it should have its own approach to China.

"I think that yes, we, Europeans, we have to have our own way of facing China. On the EU-US-China triangle, we are closer to Washington, certainly, but we have to have our own way and we are working on that," he said.