Turkey should endorse Ukraine’s — not China’s — peace plan, says Stoltenberg

BRUSSELS — NATO countries should fully back Ukraine’s own plan for its future, the alliance’s outgoing boss Jens Stoltenberg said, in response to Turkey’s decision to support a new Chinese initiative.

“We should support the Ukrainian initiative,” Stoltenberg said in an interview with POLITICO on Monday, a day before stepping down as NATO secretary-general. He was responding to a question about Ankara’s participation in the “Friends for Peace” initiative launched by China and Brazil last week.

“The Ukrainian peace initiative is an initiative that ensures that we have a process that can lead to a lasting peace,” Stoltenberg said. “And of course, it has to be the Ukrainians that, at the end of the day, decide what are acceptable conditions. They are the victim of a full-scale invasion.”

A group of 17 countries have joined the Chinese-Brazilian initiative and Turkey is the only NATO member in the group. According to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, “Friends of Peace is not about choosing sides in the conflict, not about bloc confrontation, and not about replacing existing platforms.”

Kyiv had earlier described Beijing’s move as disappointing and illogical. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in May accused Beijing of trying to sabotage a peace summit in Switzerland in June, which Russia and China boycotted.

Meanwhile, Switzerland, a key mediator, praised the latest attempt by China.

Switzerland’s view of the Chinese plan, first issued in May, has shifted since a reference was added to the U.N. Charter — the founding treaty of the global body that commits nations to uphold peace.

“For us, this translates into a significant change in our view of these initiatives,” Nicolas Bideau, chief spokesperson for the Swiss Foreign Affairs Ministry, said, according to Reuters. “A concrete diplomatic effort organized by the Sino-Brazilian group could be of interest to us.”