China to unveil peace initiative for Ukraine and Russia this month, says Beijing’s foreign minister
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (Photo:REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay)
China will put forward a peace initiative to end Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced during his speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Feb. 18.
"We will propose something," China’s top diplomat said.
“And it will be the Chinese position on a political settlement of the crisis in Ukraine.”
According to Wang Yi, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, this should happen by the end of February.
"China will present a document outlining its position on the political settlement of the Ukrainian issue," he said during the annual international security conference in Munich, to which Russia was not invited this year.
“In the document, we will reiterate the proposals made by Chinese President Xi Jinping, including the need to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty, to abide by the purpose and principles of the UN Charter, to take seriously legitimate security concerns, and to support all efforts that contribute to a peaceful settlement.”
Wang Yi added that Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the day after the Russian invasion that Russia and Ukraine should sit down at the negotiating table.
"Rounds of talks have taken place in Belarus and Turkey," the minister said.
“We have seen the text of a potential framework agreement. However, the process has stalled. We do not know why this happened. Probably, some forces did not want the materialization of peace agreements, some interests were in the way.”
According to Wang Yi, Beijing's position has not changed since then.
"This war should not continue," the Chinese Foreign Minister said.
“Conflicts and wars have no winners, they cannot be resolved in a simple way – confrontation must be prevented.”
China has refrained from criticizing Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, but at the G20 summit in Indonesia, Xi Jinping allegedly "strongly opposed the use of nuclear weapons and supported de-escalation and a ceasefire."
He also stated that the use of nuclear weapons by Russia in Ukraine is unacceptable.
Earlier, NV reported that Chinese leader Xi Jinping would deliver a "peace speech" on the anniversary of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, according to Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
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