CHINA SEEKS SETTLEMENT OF UKRAINE CRISIS

UNITED NATIONS: A Chinese envoy on Friday called for international efforts toward a political resolution to the Ukraine crisis.

The international community should work together to find a fair and sensible solution so that the crisis can be settled politically and peace can prevail, said Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations.

He made the appeal at a highlevel meeting of the UN Security Council scheduled to coincide with the second anniversary of the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.

The Ukraine crisis has caused incalculable damage. The most pressing priority is to stop the hostilities, launch peace talks and restore peace.

Peace is in the interests of parties, said Zhang.

China called on the parties concerned to show a sense of responsibility and make constructive diplomatic efforts to promote deescalation and to create favorable conditions for the resumption of all negotiations.

He said that the parties concerned should not create artificial obstacles to make peace more challenging to achieve, much less supply weapons to profit from the prolonged crisis.

Zhang stressed that strengthening or expanding a military bloc cannot guarantee regional security. “It must be pointed out that the situation that Europe is facing today is closely related to the repeated eastward expansion of NATO since the end of the Cold War.”

Regarding Ukraine, China has always maintained that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter observed, the legitimate security concerns of all countries given due regard, and all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis supported, Zhang said.

“China’s constructive role and unremitting efforts toward a political settlement of the Ukraine issue will continue,” he added.