China on Tuesday reiterated its call for peace talks to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, at a time when Russian forces are accused of committing massacres.
China has repeatedly refused to condemn its Russian ally for invading Ukraine, adopting Moscow’s argument that the conflict is blamed on US interference and NATO expansion.
The international community has intensified its condemnations against Moscow these days after the discovery of bodies in the kyiv region, deaths attributed to the Russian army, which denies that it was involved.
On Monday, a telephone conversation between Chinese and Ukrainian foreign ministers Wang Yi and Dmitro Kuleba was the first exchange between high-level officials of the two countries.
During this conversation, which took place at Ukraine’s request, Wang stressed that China’s “attitude towards the Ukrainian issue is to push for peace talks,” according to a summary released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
“The war will end one day, and the important thing is to know how to draw lessons from this painful experience to properly maintain lasting security in Europe,” Wang said.
China believes in establishing a “balanced, effective and lasting European security mechanism” based on “fair dialogue” and the “principle of indivisibility of security,” he added.
“China is willing to take an objective and fair position to continue to play a constructive role in its own way,” Wang said.
For his part, Kuleba said in a message on Twitter that the two countries “share the conviction that ending the war against Ukraine is in the common interests of peace, global food security and international trade.”
The diplomatic closeness between China and Russia raised fears that Beijing could help Moscow dodge Western sanctions and even supply war material.
European officials warned China of the risks of such support for Russia and urged it to use its diplomatic weight to end the war.
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