Kissinger: China to bring war in Ukraine to negotiations by year's end

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Former US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, claims that efforts by China are bringing the war in Ukraine to a pivotal point as he expects negotiations to occur by the end of the year.

During an interview with CBS News' Ted Koppel on Sunday, he voiced his confidence that China would change the direction of the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

"Now that China has entered the negotiation, it will come to a head, I think, by the end of the year," he said, adding: "We will be talking about negotiating processes and even actual negotiations."

Kissinger also stated his belief that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin would agree to speak to him if he called them.

When Koppel asked the former Secretary of State if he would convene with Putin in Russia if requested by a president, he replied by saying that he "would be inclined to do it, yes. But I would be an advisor, not an active person."

Kissinger's statements come after Kiev dismissed his earlier talk of negotiating peace in Ukraine in an attempt to avert a possible third World War. Kiev slammed his comments as "appeasing the aggressor" and that there could be no compromise involved in ceding territory. 

In response to this, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said on Telegram "Mr. Kissinger still has not understood anything ... neither the nature of this war, nor its impact on the world order."

Read more: Former US Secretary of State: Ukraine should give Russia territory

Amid ongoing tensions between the US and China over Taiwan, Kissinger warned back in March that a new Cold War might erupt between China and the US.

Back in mid-August 2022, Kissinger considered that Washington is "at the edge of war" with Moscow and Beijing. The former secretary of state also argued that Russia would retain Crimea and parts of Donbass as a result of a plausible settlement with Ukraine.

It is noteworthy that on February 24, China released a 12-point document entitled "China's Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis," which underscores respect for the sovereignty of all countries, the cessation of hostilities, and the resumption of peace talks between Moscow and Kiev. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that some of the provisions of the plan could be a basis for a peace settlement "if the West and Kiev are ready for it."