China Calls Hands Invisible In Ukraine Conflict, Russia: Washington Doesn't Want This War To End

JAKARTA - Russia said on Tuesday the United States was driving a war in Ukraine, saying China's foreign minister was joking when he said "visible hand" was to blame.

As for China's position in world affairs, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said Moscow was paying attention to a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine published by Beijing last month.

Peskov spoke after Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said Ukraine's crisis appeared to be driven by invisible hands, prompting it to expand and increase conflict and use it "to serve certain geopolitical agendas".

"Here we may disagree with our Chinese counterparts. This is of course a joke. You know what the joke is: it's not an invisible hand, it's the United States' hand, it's Washington's hand," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"Washington doesn't want this war to end. Washington wants and is doing everything it can to continue this war. This is a visible hand," he continued.

Previously, Moscow had repeatedly stated the United States and its allies were using Ukraine to fight against it. The narrative was rejected by Kyiv and the West, which said Ukraine was struggling to survive against the seizure of Russian imperial land.

Meanwhile, regarding China's ceasefire initiative announced last month, Peskov said Moscow was in constant contact with Beijing.

"Large countries, giants, strong and authoritative like China cannot fail to have their own voice in the problems that are on the world agenda," Peskov said.

"We are very concerned about all the ideas we have heard from our colleagues in Beijing," he said.

It is known, China has refused to refer to Russia as an aggressor, while it has often criticized the United States for intimidating other countries with sanctions. At the same time, he expressed deep concern that the conflict could escalate or "be out of control".