Wang Yi urges more support for political settlement of Ukraine crisis

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged more countries to support the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis on Tuesday during a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Beijing.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said China is always committed to promoting talks for peace upon inquiry into China's stance on the settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

The sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, and all efforts beneficial to peacefully solving the crisis should be supported, he said.

He said China values the work Switzerland has done in preparing for the peace conference and has made constructive suggestions to the Swiss side on many occasions, which received positive feedback from Switzerland.

He said there are numerous conferences in the world and that China will independently decide if it will participate or how it participates.

What the world needs are more objective, balanced, conducive and constructive voices on the Ukraine crisis, the foreign minister said.

To that end, China and Brazil have recently issued six common understandings for the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, Wang said.

The consensuses call on all relevant parties to observe three principles for de-escalating the situation, namely, no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting and no provocation by any party.

The use of nuclear weapons and attacks on nuclear power plants and other peaceful nuclear facilities must be opposed, according to the consensuses.

Wang said the Turkish side has also welcomed the six consensuses after talks with Fidan, adding that the consensuses received positive responses from 45 countries from five continents, with 26 countries confirmed to join or are studying ways to join.

Russia and Ukraine have both acknowledged most of the consensuses, which shows that the six consensuses reflect the common aspiration of most countries, he said.

China welcomes more countries to support and join the six common understandings, Wang said.