That’s the view of Ukrainian diplomat and former ambassador to the U.S. and France, Oleh Shamshur, who made the comments on-air with Espreso TV.“It’s hard for me to imagine that the Chinese would pressure Putin to stop this war,” he said. “It essentially serves China’s interests in the sense that, as long as it continues, the attention of the U.S. and Europe remains focused on it.”Shamshur believes that this gives China greater freedom of action globally — and that, objectively, Beijing is interested in prolonging the conflict.“It’s possible that, for some reason, they might decide to tell Putin the war should end, but right now I don’t see any justification for such a shift in Chinese policy. So far, every meeting between Putin and Xi has only strengthened their cooperation and reinforced China’s support for Russia — and essentially, for the war against Ukraine,”Shamshur noted.“It’s clear that this war wouldn’t be possible in its current form — with Putin’s war machine operating as effectively as it is — without China’s backing. I don’t think we should expect Beijing to abandon its partner anytime soon,” he concluded.