Kyiv's hopes for Beijing and Moscow's Transnistria move, February 2023
A look back at two diplomatic developments reported in the days before 28 February 2023, involving China's peace paper and Russia's decree on Transnistria.
What did diplomacy around the Russo-Ukrainian War look like on 28 February 2023? Two developments from the preceding days set the backdrop.
On 24 February 2023, China unveiled a 12-point position paper on ending the war in Ukraine. The paper came ahead of an expected speech by President Xi Jinping on the conflict. Ukraine said it hoped China could urge Russia to withdraw its troops in response to the paper.
Two days earlier, on 22 February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin revoked a 2012 foreign policy decree. That decree had underpinned Moldova's sovereignty in resolving the political status of the breakaway Transnistria region. The revocation touched on relations between Moldova and Russia, and between Russia and Transnistria.
Taken together, the two items showed diplomatic activity on separate fronts: Beijing setting out its position on ending the war, and Moscow withdrawing a decree tied to Moldova's sovereignty over Transnistria.
