European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg say that China's proposals for peace for Ukraine should be considered in the aspect of Beijing's friendship with Moscow.

They said it at a joint press conference in Tallinn on Friday, when, at the request of journalists, they commented on the relevant issue.

In particular, von der Leyen said: “It is not a peace plan, but principles that they shared – You have to see them against a specific backdrop, and that is the backdrop that China has already taken sides by signing, for example, an unlimited friendship right before the invasion. So we will look at the principles, of course, but we will look at them against the backdrop that China has taken sides,” she said.

The NATO Secretary General supported this opinion: “China doesn’t have much credibility (…) they have not been able to condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine,” Stoltenberg told reporters. Stoltenberg also noted that Beijing had signed an agreement with Russia only days before its invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

Stoltenberg also said that “President Putin is not preparing for war he is preparing for the exact opposite, for more war, for more new offensives.” “Most likely this war at some stage will end at the negotiating table. But if we want a peaceful solution, we need to also realize that what happens around that negotiating table is totally dependent on the strength and the situation on the battlefield. So meaning that if we want a peaceful negotiated solution where Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation, then we need to support Ukraine military now because that's the only way to create the conditions where President Putin realize that he will not win on the battlefield. He has to sit down and accept Ukraine as an independent sovereign nation in Europe. So, military support today is the way to achieve a peaceful agreement tomorrow,” the Secretary General outlined his vision of achieving a peaceful solution.