Beijing has more leverage over Putin than Washington, Graham saysZelenskiy said he raised China’s role with Trump, European leadersTrump’s team now backs a long-delayed Russia sanctions bill, Graham says<\/p>\n
KYIV, July 10 (Reuters) – China could \u200bplay a decisive role in pressuring Russia towards peace talks, helping end its war in \u200cUkraine, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Friday, adding that the next several months would present a window for a diplomatic solution.<\/p>\n
Graham, a frequent visitor to wartime Ukraine, met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv. They discussed Ukraine’s urgent air defence \u200bneeds and the Russian sanctions bill, Zelenskiy said.<\/p>\n
Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n Graham said that bolstering Ukraine’s military capabilities and aligning \u200bsanctions with a diplomatic push could force Moscow into talks.<\/p>\n “The road to ending this \u2060war, the road to peace, passes through Beijing more than it does (through) Washington, Kyiv, or Moscow. China has \u200ban oversized influence. I’d like them to use their influence for the good of the world,” Graham told \u200breporters at Mykhailivska Square in the heart of Kyiv.<\/p>\n “I don’t believe (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is there yet, but it wouldn’t take much to get him there. And the sooner we can have a dialogue about peace, the quicker this war is \u200bover.”<\/p>\n China and Russia declared a “no limits” strategic partnership<\/a> days before Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into \u200bUkraine in February 2022.<\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has been trying to help find a diplomatic solution to end the \u200cwar \u2060but despite months of efforts, no tangible results have been achieved.<\/p>\n Fighting rages along more than 1,200 km (745-miles) of the front line. Russia rains missiles and drones on Ukrainian cities far from the front line. The U.N. said that June became one of the deadliest<\/a> months of the war as Russian strikes killed at least 265 \u200bcivilians in Ukraine.<\/p>\n Kyiv has \u200bintensified its drone attacks \u2060inside Russia, hitting its oil facilities and weapons production to undermine Moscow’s economic ability to press on with its war.<\/p>\n Zelenskiy, who met Trump earlier this week during \u200bthe NATO summit in Ankara, said that he discussed China’s role in ending \u200bthe war \u2060with the U.S. president and some European leaders.<\/p>\n Graham also said that Trump’s team was now on board<\/a> with the Russia sanctions bill that has been in the works for months. The legislation is meant to cut off the \u2060source of \u200bfinancing for much of Russia\u2019s military operations.<\/p>\n “We have a magic moment \u200bin time here,” Graham said. “In the coming months, if we do this right, increase Ukraine’s lethality, get people to help us with \u200bPutin rather than propping him up, we can end this war.”<\/p>\n Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani<\/p>\n Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n