Ukraine conflict must not continue any longer: senior Chinese diplomat

A damaged building is in demolition process in Mariupol, Aug. 23, 2022. (Photo by Victor/Xinhua)

China will continue firmly standing on the side of dialogue and peace, said Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

MUNICH, Germany, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Ukraine crisis is not what China would like to see, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Saturday, noting that everything China has been doing is to facilitate peace talks.

Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks at the 59th Munich Security Conference (MSC) when answering a question concerning China's stance on the crisis.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said as other parties, China is also concerned that the Russia-Ukraine conflict might be escalated and protracted.

China's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) Zhang Jun speaks during the UN General Assembly Special Emergency Session on Ukraine at the UN headquarters in New York, March 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Xie E)

China is not a party directly involved, Wang said, noting that it did not choose to be a bystander or add fuel to the fire, still less exploit the crisis.

China will continue firmly standing on the side of dialogue and peace, he noted.

Since the second day of the conflict's breakout, Chinese President Xi Jinping had proposed to pursue a political settlement of disputes through dialogue, Wang said.

Despite multiple rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, the peace talks ended without any result.

A fresh round of face-to-face peace talks between Russia and Ukraine is held in Istanbul, Turkey, March 29, 2022. (Turkish Presidential Palace/Handout via Xinhua)

"We are not aware of the reasons behind it," Wang said, adding that it seems some forces might not wish to see a successful peace talk or an end to the conflict.

Those forces "do not care about the lives of the Ukraine people, nor the damage taken by Europe," Wang said, adding that, instead they have a larger strategic goal.

The conflict must not continue any longer, Wang said.

As President Xi puts it clearly: conflicts and wars produce no winner; there is no simple solution to a complex issue; and confrontation between major countries must be avoided, Wang said.

Wang called on MSC's participants from Europe to think about the questions of what efforts are needed to stop the conflict, what framework should be built to secure long-lasting peace and stability in Europe, and what roles should Europe play to achieve strategic autonomy.

A vessel transporting grain from Ukraine passes through the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, Türkiye, Aug. 7, 2022. (Xinhua/Shadati)

Noting that the one-year anniversary of the Ukraine crisis is days away, Wang announced that China will publish a document on its stance of finding a political settlement to the crisis.

Wang said the document will reiterate President Xi's important propositions, which stressed that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be upheld, that the legitimate security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously, and that all efforts conducive to a peaceful resolution of the crisis should be supported.

In the document, China will reiterate that a nuclear war must never be fought and cannot be won, Wang said, adding that China also urges efforts to ensure the security of civil nuclear facilities, stands against attacking nuclear power plants, and will advocate joint efforts to oppose to the use of biochemical weapons.

The more complex the situation, the greater the need to remain cool-headed and pragmatic, Wang said, stressing that China is willing to join hands with all parties to continue the efforts for realizing peace at an early date.