War or peace in Ukraine; Who gains, who loses - EDITORIAL

On Tuesday February 21, at a security conference in Beijing, Qin Gang, the Chinese Foreign Minister told participants, that China was concerned the almost year-long war Russia-Ukraine conflict could spill “out of control.” 
He stated China was offering a 12-point proposal to end the fighting and added, “Chinese President Xi Jinping had put forward proposals to ease the situation and de-escalate the crisis,”
The Daily Mirror however, has not been privy to these proposals.

According to the minister, China urged peace talks to bring about a political settlement. It called on all countries to immediately stop adding fuel to fire - an apparent reference to military support provided to Ukraine by the US and its West European allies. He emphasized his country wants to play a role in ending the conflict. 
The Chinese FM made his remarks in Beijing. Even before Ukraine or its president could respond to the initiative, US president Joe Biden cynically remarked “Putin’s applauding it, so how could it be any good?” 

Biden told ABC News. “I’ve seen nothing in the plan that would indicate that there is something that would be beneficial to anyone other than Russia, if the Chinese plan were followed.” Earlier US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Beijing was considering supplying weapons and ammunition to Russia.
Despite the US and its president attempting to put words into the Ukrainian President’s mouth, the BBC reported Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he plans to meet China’s leader Xi Jinping to discuss Beijing’s proposals on ending the war in Ukraine. What is becoming clear however, is that the Ukrainian president does want a political settlement to the ongoing conflict

China’s plan according to the BBC report, calls for peace talks and respect for national sovereignty, though it makes no mention of the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. Be that as it may, one would scarcely expect peace in a sovereign country, if occupation forces were to remain in the land of that sovereign state. Rather, it looks as if the US wants the conflict in Ukraine, for whatever reason to continue.

According to the OHCHR - the estimated number of Ukraine civillian deaths or non-armed individuals, in Ukraine stands at over 8,000 since the start of the war on February 24, 2022.
Statistica.com puts the damage to housing facilities from the Russian invasion of Ukraine based on publicly available evidence at an estimated at US$54 billion as of December 2022. A further US$35.6 billion were recorded in direct losses from damage to infrastructure.
The only bodies who are benefiting from the ongoing Russian-Ukraine conflict are the arms merchants in those nations. Statistics published by the US government itself show more than US$3.75 billion in US military assistance to Ukraine.

Ukraine needs to remember the lessons of US involvement in Afghanistan. Studies conducted by the Watson Institute of Brown University in the US, reveal, 92% of Afghanistan’s population faces some level of food insecurity. Around 3 million children are at risk of acute malnutrition. Some regions of the country are currently are facing famine. At least half the population is living on less than US$1.90 per day.

Undoubtedly these and similar statistics were in president Zelensky’s mind when he told the BBC he would like to meet the Chinese President to discuss the Chinese peace proposals.
We in Sri Lanka, can fully understand the death and pain of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, having had to face a near three-decade civil war in our country, which commenced in 1983. We call on all parties to the conflict to do their utmost to bring the conflict in Ukraine, to a speedy end with justice to all parties. 
The US though having being party to armed conflicts in different parts of the world has largely been free of the pain, war inflicts on the civilian population, as the wars never occurred in the US itself.

However, the US war in Afghanistan, brought war home to the people of the US, when Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda bombed the Twin Towers in the 9/11 attack where 2,996 US civilians, including the 19 hijackers died.
The war in Ukraine has the potential to spread globally and out of control once again and will inflict pain on the US population, if this present conflict gets out of hand.
It’s time major powers put humanity first. Perhaps the Chinese peace proposal is a good starting point.