Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Tuesday called for "calmness, reason and dialogue" to solve the Ukraine crisis, which he termed a tragedy that could have been avoided.

He made the remarks at a press conference held on the sidelines of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing.

Qin said the Ukraine crisis has come to a critical juncture, adding that either hostilities stop and peace is restored and the process of political settlement begins, or more fuel is added to the flames and the crisis further expands and spirals out of control. 

"Conflict, sanctions and pressure will not solve the problem. What is needed is calmness, reason and dialogue. The process of peace talks should begin as soon as possible, and the legitimate security concerns of all parties should be respected. This is the right way to achieve durable security in Europe," he said. 

Qin said the Ukraine crisis has a complex history and cause, and it is an eruption of the problems built up in the security governance of Europe.

China always makes its own judgement independently based on the merits of the issue. Between peace and war, we choose peace. Between dialogue and sanctions, we choose dialogue. Between cooling down the situation and fueling the flames, we choose the former, Qin said.

"China did not create the crisis. It is not a party to the crisis, and does not provide weapons to either side. What has China done to deserve being blamed, or even sanctioned and threatened? This is absolutely unacceptable," he said. 

Qin said efforts for peace talks have been repeatedly undermined, adding that there seems to be "an invisible hand" pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict and using the Ukraine crisis to serve certain geopolitical agenda.