Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that a world war could break out if China supported Russia against Ukraine.
“My hope is that Beijing will maintain a pragmatic attitude, you risk World War III otherwise, I think they are well aware of that,” he said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, published on Sunday — in response to the paper asking him if Kyiv thought China would send weapons to Russia.
Zelensky said he has personally appealed to the Chinese leadership through direct channels and publicly “not to offer any support” to Russia in the war.
“From the early 1990s, at the Budapest Memorandum and for all the agreements reached since then, China has always kept its commitments. I personally hope that the international community will join together to support my 10-point peace plan, where American, Chinese and major power guarantees to defend world security are covered,” Zelensky told the newspaper.
The Ukrainian president said Ukraine’s relationship with China has always been “very good.”
“We have had intense economic relations for many years, and it is in everyone’s interest that they do not change. The global challenge is to thwart any risk of nuclear conflict,” he said.
His comments come after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Washington is concerned that China is considering providing “lethal support” to Russia’s war in Ukraine.