China calls for de-escalating Ukraine conflict

A Chinese envoy on Thursday called for de-escalating the Ukraine conflict, saying its current trajectory is concerning.

The conflicting parties have conducted frequent military attacks with higher intensity, greater scale and larger scope than before, resulting in significant civilian casualties and infrastructure damage, said Sun Lei, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

China condemns any attacks against civilians and calls on relevant parties to cease attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, he told the Security Council.

Sun called on the parties to exercise restraint and make every effort to de-escalate the situation.

"Recently, the parties have been caught up in a vicious circle of military confrontation and retaliation, which not only inflicts profound suffering on civilians but also further fuels hatred and intensifies conflicts, making the path to peace negotiation even more arduous and difficult," he said.

"The parties should remain calm and exercise restraint, strictly abide by international humanitarian law and make every effort to de-escalate, thereby creating conditions for an earlier ceasefire and an end to hostilities," he noted.

The parties should remain patient, actively demonstrate political will, resume dialogue and negotiations at the earliest opportunity, and strive to reach a comprehensive, lasting and binding peace agreement, he said.

As the parties have their respective security concerns, they should find the greatest common denominator that accommodates each other's security concerns, eliminate the root causes of the conflict in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter, promote the establishment of a balanced, effective and sustainable regional security architecture, and achieve long-term stability and peace in the region, said Sun.

Committed to a political settlement of the crisis and consistently upholding an objective and impartial stance on the Ukraine issue, China has actively maintained communication and engagement with all parties and persisted in its efforts to promote peace talks in its own manner, he said.

China would like to continue working with the international community and play a constructive role in advancing an early political solution to the crisis, he added.