Macron is working on a secret plan with China to end the war in Ukraine

French President Emmanual Macron is reportedly working with China on a secret plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine through a renewed round of peace talks. 

According to Bloomberg News, Macron has asked senior French diplomat Emmanual Bonne to work with former Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the future peace plan. 

Bloomberg added that those close to the plan said that if all goes well Macron hoped to have Russian and Ukrainian officials in the same room for peace talks as soon as the start of summer. 

On April 5th, Macron flew to China for a three-day visit that included discussions about the situation in Ukraine and what President Xi Jinping could do to help end the conflict. 

“The Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to stability,” Macron said in reference to the tenuous world order disrupted by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. 

"I know I can count on you to bring Russia to its senses and bring everyone back to the negotiating table," Marcon added before beginning their talks according to NBC News.

Macron ultimately failed in his goal of getting President Xi to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, though Xi did call for “peace talks and seeks a political solution” while also asking for "rational restraint" from the international community. 

Xi and Zelensky haven’t spoken since before Russia invaded Ukraine according to Bloomberg, but each leader has made public overtures about holding bilateral talks. 

In late March, Zelensky said he was ready to speak with President Xi at any time after China released a 12-point peace proposal that sought to guide a diplomatic end to the war. 

"We are ready to see him here," Zelensky told the Associated Press on March 29th. "I want to speak with him. I had contact with him before full-scale war. But during all this year, more than one year, I didn't have." 

On April 6th, Xi expressed his interest in speaking with Zelensky but did not provide a timeframe for when the talks could happen according to a Reuters report.

The French President hasn’t given up on his ambitions of having China play a major role in ending the conflict in Ukraine and Bloomberg confirmed with an official in Macron’s office that there was a plan in place to have Bonne speak with Wang. 

Even if French leaders could work out a plan with Chinese officials on ending the war, the big question would be whether or not Ukraine could accept returning to peace talks after everything that’s happened since the previous negotiations ended. 

“It’s not clear if Macron has support for his plan from Kyiv and its allies, many of whom have dismissed cease-fire proposals that would allow Russia to keep territorial gains,” wrote Bloomberg’s Ania Nussbaum and Alberto Nardelli.

“Many nations are also skeptical that China can serve as a neutral intermediary given its 'no-limits friendship' with Russia,” Nussbaum and Nardelli added, a fact that one Ukrainian official pointed out in March when Zelensky was hoping to speak with Xi. 

Oleksandr Merezhko is a member of Ukraine’s Parliament and the Chair of the country’s Foreign Affairs Committee, in March he noted how President Xi’s two meetings with Putin and visit to Russia appeared as if he had already taken a side in the conflict. 

"When Xi is eager to go to Putin but doesn't want to come meet Zelensky, it's a clear sign that China is on the side of Russia. I doubt that Xi will come to Ukraine,"  Merezhko said according to Newsweek’s John Feng and David Brennan. 

Regardless of what happens, Marcon’s efforts to make peace are admirable. The conflict in Ukraine has posed the greatest existential risk humanity has faced since the end of the Cold War and working toward a solution is never a bad idea.