Qin Gang, China’s foreign minister, on Thursday urged Kiev and Moscow to resume peace talks “as soon as possible”, speaking with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, revealed Chinese diplomacy.
“China fears that the crisis will escalate and spiral out of control. It hopes that all parties remain calm, show restraint, resume peace talks as soon as possible and return to the path of a political settlement”said Qin Gang, according to a statement from China’s foreign ministry.
“We discussed the importance of the principle of territorial integrity,” Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, in turn, said in a post on the social network Twitter.
This is the first official contact between the two politicians since Qin Gang took over China’s diplomatic portfolio in late December.
In February, China unveiled a generic 12-point “peace plan” to end the conflict in Ukraine, then asked Moscow and Kiev to hold talks.
The document in question opposes any use of nuclear weapons and calls for respect for the territorial integrity of all countries, with an implicit reference to Ukraine, whose territory is partly under Russian control.
The Chinese plan was received with caution by the West because China, which is officially neutral, has never publicly condemned Russia for the military offensive launched in February 2022.
Chinese diplomacy has tried to impose itself as a mediator in this conflict, but its position as Moscow’s closest partner is an element to the West that disqualifies Beijing from such a mission.
Qin Gang today reiterated China’s defense of the document, saying Beijing has so far taken “an objective and fair position on the Ukrainian issue.”
“China will continue to play a constructive role in reaching a ceasefire and cessation of fighting to mitigate the crisis and ensure a return to peace.”said the Chinese representative.
“We hope that Ukraine and Russia (…) regardless of the difficulties and challenges, will not close the door to a political solution”he concluded.
China was recently accused by the United States of considering supplying arms to Russia, but has strongly denied any such intentions.
The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory, launched on February 24 last year, plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
In the first weeks of the conflict, Ukraine and Russia even started peace talks, but the process was abandoned without result.
Source: DN
