Chinese envoy calls for early end to Ukraine crisis

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called on all parties to the Ukraine crisis to work toward an early end to the conflict.

"China once again calls on relevant parties to bear in mind the interest of the people, strive to promote peace, and try every possible way to push parties to the conflict to resume peace talks and end the war at an early date," Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council briefing on the humanitarian issue of Ukraine.

The envoy said that over the past year since the Ukraine crisis broke out, the humanitarian situation there "has always tugged at our heartstrings," adding that conflicts on the ground show no signs of easing up, the logic of military solution still prevails, and a large number of heavy weapons keep pouring into the battlefields.

"The international community deplores the humanitarian cost of the conflict. But the parties concerned lack the sincerity to promote peace talks and the determination to resolve the issue politically," he said.

"At a time when armed conflicts still persist, priority should be given to humanitarian issues," he said.

The ambassador underscored that China has always stressed that parties to the conflict must abide by international humanitarian law, adhere to the humanitarian bottom line of respecting life, refrain from attacking civilians and civilian facilities, and ensure the safe evacuation of personnel and the delivery of humanitarian relief.

"We appreciate the enormous work by international humanitarian agencies and neighboring countries to ease the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, especially the help given to vulnerable groups such as refugees and displaced persons," he said.

"We encourage the international community to continue to uphold the humanitarian spirit, scale up the relief to all affected people, and speed up the repair of civilian infrastructure, in order to mitigate the impact of the conflict on people's lives," added Dai.

Turning to the safety and security of nuclear facilities, the envoy said that that any accident can result in humongous humanitarian and ecological catastrophe.

"China calls for an immediate stop of shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, earnest implementation of the seven pillars for ensuring nuclear safety and security proposed by the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and maximum efforts to stop the conflict from escalating to a nuclear crisis," he said.

"We welcome the fact that the IAEA has sent experts to all nuclear power facilities in Ukraine, and appreciate the agency's efforts to ensure the safety and security of Ukraine's nuclear facilities," said the envoy.

"We support the agency's efforts to remain engaged with Russia and Ukraine on the issue of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plan, so as to reach meaningful arrangements acceptable to both sides as soon as possible," he added.

He said that on issues related to global food, energy, and financial security, all parties concerned should demonstrate their humanitarian responsibilities, and manage and control the spillover effect of the crisis in a responsible manner.

"In an era of increasing integration and globalization, willful sanctions and artificial blocking of the flow of industrial and supply chains will only exacerbate the rippling effect of the crisis, and inflict heavy cost on the whole world, especially developing countries," the ambassador said.

"The continued implementation of the Black Sea grain initiative is of great significance to expanding food supply and stabilizing global food prices," said Dai, adding that at the same time, "we also hope to see practical results in removing obstacles to Russia's grain and fertilizer exports. And we support the UN in stepping up its coordination role."