Russia did not inform China of its intention to start a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Beijing has long assumed that Moscow can conduct a limited military operation in Donbas, but will not start a real war.
The Financial Times writes about this with reference to its own sources among Chinese officials.
The Chinese government is seeking to improve relations with Europe, which have been significantly damaged by China's support for Russia during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The starting point for the diplomatic reset was a reassessment by the Chinese leadership of close relations with Russia.
The publication notes that Beijing is dissatisfied with the fact that Russia did not warn about its true intentions to start a full-scale war against Ukraine.
According to some Chinese officials, in the last conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which took place less than a month before the invasion, the head of the Kremlin said that he did not rule out the possibility of using "any measures" to resolve the situation in Donbas.
In Beijing, the words of the Russian president were taken as a signal of the possibility of only limited military involvement, rather than a full-scale invasion.
Chinese officials told the publication that Beijing was unaware of Moscow's real intentions until the very end, as the decision to invade was made by a limited group of people.
The demotion of an official named Le Yucheng was proof of the failure to understand Russia's intentions. At the time of the invasion of Ukraine, he held the position of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China.
"Le was demoted two levels... He was given responsibility for the failure of the intelligence about the Russian invasion," the interlocutor told the publication.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on March 10, 2022, the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, called for respect for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and an end to hostilities.
We also reported that the United States said in late March 2022 that China had not responded to Russia's request for military assistance.
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