China not interested in mediating between Ukraine and Russia – Volker

China is not interested in playing the role of mediator between Ukraine and Russia, and visits by either U.S. President Donald Trump or Russian leader Vladimir Putin to Beijing should not be expected to bring any meaningful progress toward ending the war.

Former U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker said this on the sidelines of the GLOBSEC Forum in comments to Ukrinform.

"I would not put anything in this," he said.

According to Volker, China has not been interested in Russia's war against Ukraine from the beginning.

"They [Chinese] view it as Russia's war. They view it as a problem for Putin now. They didn't want him to do this, they didn't care if he does do it. It's not their thing. They're interested in their own interests in their own region. And they sell [various goods] to both sides, they buy energy if it's cheap. So they are not going to get more deeply involved here," he said.

He also suggested that the timing of Putin's visit to China shortly after Trump's trip was politically motivated, aimed at gaining insight into discussions between Beijing and Washington.

"Putin then probably wanted to schedule very quickly after that, both to get a readout from Xi – 'what did you guys talk about, what's going on here' – and then to try his own deals with Xi afterwards, where he can be more pro-Chinese compared to President Trump," Volker said.

He also expressed doubt that China pays significant attention to this issue.

"I don't think the Chinese put a whole lot of stock in this. They are doing their own thing. They're not being driven by Russia, nor are they being driven by the United States. They're driving themselves," Volker said.

He dismissed the idea of China acting as a mediator in a potential settlement between Ukraine and Russia, saying Beijing has no interest in such a role because "it's not their war."

Volker also added that Russia would only accept mediation if it aligned with its own demands, something China would not agree to.

Volker, who served as U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine under the first Trump administration, recalled that Trump, from the beginning of his current term, has tried to position the United States as a "neutral arbiter," but Putin does not trust even this.

When asked whether the United States remains interested in continuing the role of mediator, Volker noted that "the U.S. has a position about negotiations that doesn't correspond to reality.' "It believes that Russia wants to end the war — it doesn't. It believes that Ukraine has to give something up — they don't. And it believes that if everyone's just reasonable, the war will end, which is not true. Because there's no ability for Russia to be "reasonable" as long as Vladimir Putin is in charge."

So Washington has a framework for thinking about these negotiations that is just not real, Volker added.

At the same time, he noted that the situation for Putin will continue to worsen: on the ground, on the front line, economically, financially, in terms of sanctions, oil exports, oil refineries, personnel losses, etc. Over time, everything will only get worse.

"And eventually, he's going to need to have a ceasefire, or else he's going to be unable to continue the war. So he'll want to pause it. And that will happen, in my view, kind of on its own. It's not going to be led by the U.S. or by China. It'll just move in that direction, and Ukraine and Russia can manage that themselves," Volker said.

Trump visited China on May 13-15 and Putin on May 19-20.