China’s peace plan for Ukraine has left the ball squarely on the U.S. side, said Israeli security analyst Robert C. Castel on Hungary’s KarcFM commercial radio station on Thursday.
When there are not too many peace plans on the table, all such documents are worth noting and discussing, said Castel, adding that there are two public plans, one signed by Pope Francis and the other by China. According to the security expert, the “ivory tower dwellers” of the West have a clear idea of “how to raise each other’s children” when it comes to peace plans for the Middle East, for example, but this “peacemaking fever” does not seem to be evident in the case of Ukraine.
However, “with its peace plan, China has set a perfect trap for the United States and Europe,” said Castel, who added that the U.S. can only come out of this situation well if it can also put a peace plan on the table.
The Chinese peace plan is, of course, in China’s interests, he said, adding that if U.S. diplomacy had been as serious as it was under President John F. Kennedy, the Americans would have foreseen all this and presented their own plan earlier as a preventive step. Instead, China has now forced the U.S. into a rearguard action in this area.
The fact that the United States has indicated that it does not want a ceasefire in Ukraine has very bad optics, said Castel. According to him, peace is valuable in all civilizations, and the appearance that the U.S. is not concerned about pursuing peace does not only have repercussions in Christian societies.
The aim of the Chinese leader’s visit to Russia was not Russia, which is “already in China’s pocket,” the expert said. Instead, the real target was Ukraine, which is supported by the West but unable to achieve the goal of Zelensky defeating Moscow.
According to Castel, when the two sides talk about “toxic weapons” such as depleted uranium, it is part of the information warfare that is raging strongly between the West and Russia. According to Castel, in the end, almost everything on the battlefield is toxic, with the Israeli expert saying that regulations, for example, forbid soldiers from wearing flame-resistant clothing outside of live combat because it is also highly detrimental to their health. In this regard, weapons containing depleted uranium do not particularly stand out.
As to the international arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, the expert said the move undermined the authority and seriousness of the court because it was not the president of a banana republic but the leader of a great power.
