Muir noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had responded positively to the Chinese proposal.
“Putin is applauding it, so how could it be any good? I’m not being facetious,” he said. “I’m being deadly earnest.”
Biden added: “The idea that China is going to be negotiating the outcome of a war that’s a totally unjust war for Ukraine is just not rational.”
Despite America’s skepticism toward the proposal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautiously welcomed Beijing’s efforts Friday and said he would like to meet with President Xi Jinping to discuss China’s proposals. “As far as I know, China respects historical integrity,” he told reporters in Kyiv.
Speaking to Muir, Biden also made it clear that the United States would be extremely displeased if China offered military aid to to Russia in its fight against Ukraine in the year-old war.
“We would respond,” Biden said. He also noted that hundreds of American companies had left Russia after its invasion of Ukraine “without any government prodding” and that China might face the same consequences.
