Chinese envoy urges political settlement of Ukraine conflict

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on Thursday called on all parties to the Ukraine conflict to seek a political settlement to end the fighting.

It is "in the best interest of all parties to seek a political settlement by way of an early end to the fighting," Fu said in remarks at the UN Security Council briefing on arms supply to Ukraine.

Addressing the continued flow of weapons and ammunition into the battleground, the ambassador said this will only "further aggravate the crisis and deepen the cruelty, danger, and unpredictability that war brings," resulting in more innocent casualties, diminishing the hope for a peaceful end to the fighting, and bringing more negative impact to regional peace and stability.

At present, the focus should be on observing the three principles of no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting and no fanning the flames by any party, so as to deescalate the situation as soon as possible, he said.

Fu noted that recently, the parties to the conflict have, to varying degrees, signaled their willingness to negotiate. "We expect them to continue to show political will, walk towards each other rather than away from each other, and restart peace talks as soon as possible," he noted, calling the international community to create conditions and provide assistance in this regard and work together for a political settlement of the crisis.

"China's position on the Ukraine issue has been consistent and clear. It is to urge and promote peace through a political settlement," he emphasized.

Talking about Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba's visit to China, Fu said the two sides had in-depth exchanges of views on the Ukraine crisis. "We note that Foreign Minister Kuleba said that Ukraine values China's views and has carefully studied the six-point understandings proposed by China and Brazil on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, and that Ukraine is willing and ready to engage in dialogue and negotiation with Russia," he said.

Fu refuted remarks by the U.S. representative, saying that "the U.S. representative resorted to tactics of slandering and smearing China in an attempt to create a false narrative, mislead the international community, and shift the blame to China on the issue of Ukraine, which China categorically rejects."

Reiterating that "China is not a creator of the Ukraine crisis, much less a party to it," Fu said China has all along insisted on promoting peace and negotiation and pushing for a political solution.

"China has never poured oil on the fire or taken advantage of the situation, nor has it provided lethal weapons to any party to the conflict," he stressed.