Comments by Nataliya Butyrska, Associate Senior Fellow at the New Europe Center, to media on Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing and its implications for Ukraine
“There is no reason to expect any breakthroughs from this meeting. The Russian-Ukrainian war will not be first on the agenda — not even third. We will not see Trump manage to persuade Beijing to stop supporting Russia or purchasing its goods. After all, Trump’s own position on Russia is far from unambiguous. We will hear more general statements, but not any advancement toward peace.”
Natalia Butyrska, Associate Senior Analyst at the New Europe Center, commented for Slawa TV, Radio NV, and My-Ukraine on what Trump’s visit to Beijing actually means — and what it means for Ukraine.
According to her, both sides — the US and China — are interested not in a breakthrough but in stabilisation: the meeting is designed to give their competition a more managed form, rather than to reset the relationship. Trump arrived in China with a delegation of businesspeople and is primarily in need of concrete economic deals he can sell to the American voter ahead of the autumn Congressional elections. Xi Jinping, for his part, also needs domestic political wins amid economic difficulties and is preparing for re-election in 2027.
Among the acute issues on the table are Iran and Taiwan. On Iran, Beijing refuses to align with Washington: Chinese oil refineries have received direct instructions not to comply with US sanctions. On Taiwan, China will seek to extract concessions — in particular, a shift in US diplomatic language from “we do not support independence” to “we oppose independence,” as well as restrictions on arms deals.
On Ukraine, Natalia Butyrska cautions against inflated expectations. The Russia-Ukraine war will not even make it to third place on the agenda. China will repeat its standard talking points about supporting a peace process, but will make no real commitments to pressure Russia. A more telling signal for Ukraine will be Putin’s next visit to Beijing, expected around late May. That meeting will be the real indicator of whether Moscow receives yet another show of support from China — as it has after previous Xi–Putin summits.
