Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused China of refusing to help end Russia’s war against his country.
"If China truly wanted this war to end, it could force Moscow to stop this invasion. Without China, Putin’s Russia is nothing, yet China remains silent and distant instead of acting for peace," Zelensky said during a UN Security Council session on Tuesday, September 23.
Zelensky added that the United States is another country capable of pushing Moscow to end the war. "Moscow fears America and always pays attention to it," he said, referencing his meeting the same day with US President Donald Trump.
According to Zelensky, Kyiv supported every US proposal for a ceasefire and talks with Moscow, but "Russia has always responded 'no' or tried to confuse everyone so that even a truce would not happen."
The Ukrainian president said he believes Vladimir Putin is afraid to face Ukraine and the world. "This man is afraid to sit face-to-face with Ukraine and the world and openly admit that he wants only war," Zelensky said.
He added that Russia’s representative at the UN Security Council "is not the one making the real decisions," while Putin travels abroad "only to buy more time for killing, pretending he is seeking diplomacy."
Earlier, in an interview with Fox News, Zelensky said Kyiv had proposed holding peace talks with Putin in neutral countries — Austria, Switzerland, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan — but Moscow has yet to agree to a bilateral meeting.
US President Donald Trump said in August, after a summit with Putin in Alaska, that the Russian and Ukrainian leaders should meet to discuss ending the war.
Later, the Russian president stressed he "sees no point" in talks with Zelensky, saying he considers it impossible to reach an agreement with him on the occupied territories.
According to Bloomberg sources close to the Kremlin, Putin concluded during the Alaska summit that Trump does not intend to intervene actively in the conflict. After that, the Russian president decided to escalate in order to force Kyiv into negotiations on Moscow’s terms.
