First a very harsh attack on Vladimir Putin: “There are no doubts, Russia has committed crimes against humanity”. Then a dry warning to Xi Jinping: “If China helps Moscow, there will be more and more deaths in Ukraine”. The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harrishas left its mark at the ‘Security Conference’ in Munich, Germany. In his speech he mixed emotions, indignation at the “acts of cruelty” committed by the soldiers and mercenaries under Putin’s orders. TO”Bombing of houses, torture, sexual assaults, deportations, executions of civilians: Before entering politics, I was a prosecutor. I can tell you that we have collected the evidencewe know the law and there can be no doubt: these are crimes against humanity ».
Shortly thereafter, the State Department announced that it had registered 30,600 cases of criminal actions. Harris again: “We will do everything possible to try the material managers and their superiors, even in international offices”. This is the legal conclusion of the public commitment made by Joe Biden last April, immediately after the discovery of the massacres in Bucha, the town on the outskirts of Kiev, brutalized by Putin’s army. On April 1, 2022, Biden had called Putin a “war criminal”; on April 12 he had accused him of “genocide”. Now, on February 18, 2023, his deputy announces to the world: we can prove our charges.
Harris’ other message is for Xi Jinping: “Since the war broke out, China has deepened its relations with Russia. Each lethal support (in Moscow, ndr) will bring more deaths to Ukraine and will destabilize the world order based on respect for the law». Later, however, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, specified that “at the moment there are no traces of Chinese military aid”. Although just yesterday the Wall Street Journal he wrote that ‘Russia continues to import drones for warfare from China’.
On the eve, actually, the wait had focused on Wang Yi, the Foreign Policy Plenipotentiary of the Communist Party of China. Wang Yi is one of Xi Jinping’s closest collaborators and in recent days has repeatedly hinted at a “peace plan” elaborated by Beijing. He also spoke about it with the Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, when he stopped in Rome, during his European tour which will end in Moscow (and a few days after the now imminent visit of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Kiev). «China’s commitment is a positive fact – commented Tajani who leads the Italian delegation in Munich – let’s see how it will materialize. The goal is to reach peace, but the instrument cannot be the surrender of Ukraine».
In his speech, however, Wang Yi was very generic: “We support the need to reach talks for peace. We must give peace a chance.’ The Beijing Politburo member would have anticipated the details to the German equal, Annalena Baerbock which, in turn, confirmed the existence of this project to journalists.
The most skeptical are the Americans. If only because for months the Chinese have been hoping for “negotiations between the parties”, without wanting to get involved. Relations between the two Superpowers remain tense, complicated. Indiscretion of a possible conversation between Blinken and Wang Yi had spread during the day, but there was no confirmation. It would be the first contact at the summit, after the “balloon crisis”. From the stage, Wang Yi called the American reaction “absurd and hysterical”. The US Air Force has shot down a Chinese balloon, suspected of espionage, and three other balloons found to be harmless.
In any case, even in Munich the Western bloc demonstrated unity, albeit with different nuances. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said supplies “should be doubled”. Along the same lines, the British premier, Rishi Sunak. Reasoning, on the other hand, becomes sticky when you try to understand what is meant by «Ukrainian victory», a recurring expression also in Monaco. It means the reconquest of all occupied territories, including the Crimea? Only the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, was clear: ‘Yes, Crimea too. But the war will really end when Putin or whoever takes his place will come to Kiev and kneel in front of the monument to the victims of the Russians, begging forgiveness.