German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has reacted with skepticism to the Chinese proposal for a ceasefire in Russia's war in Ukraine.
"When I hear reports — and I don't know if they're true — that China may be planning to supply Russia with kamikaze drones while it presents its plan for peace, then I suggest we judge China by its actions, not its words. ", he told the German public broadcaster, Deutschlandfunk.
Pistorius has been in line with comments from NATO and European Commission officials, who have raised doubts about Beijing's credibility as a mediator after the plan was proposed.
Beijing presented the plan on Friday, on the first anniversary of Russia's war in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has welcomed some elements of the plan, but he has said that only the country where the war is being waged should be the initiator of the plan for peace.
Pistorius has said that it is up to Kiev to decide when and under what conditions to start talks with Moscow, and has said that the same scenario applies to the decision to return the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow occupied in 2014.
"I tend to say, yes, Crimea is Ukrainian territory, so it should be returned to them," he said in the interview.
"But again, this is not a decision we should make."
Zelensky has said that Ukrainian military troops will remove the entire Russian army from the occupied territory, including the Crimean Peninsula.
