Xi says China to play constructive role in addressing Ukraine crisis

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China is willing to play a constructive role in the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

"We sincerely hope that Ukraine will maintain social stability and economic development," Xi said.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Ukraine.

Xi said China attaches great importance to relations with Ukraine and is ready to work with Ukraine to cement mutual political trust, strengthen exchanges between governments, legislatures and political parties, and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation.

He also suggested that the two nations enhance exchanges and cooperation in such areas as education, culture, health, sports and tourism, and beef up dialogue and coordination in international and regional affairs as well as multilateral institutions like the United Nations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (L). /Xinhua Photo

For his part, Poroshenko said Ukraine-China relations are very important.

Ukraine will make concerted efforts with China to expand their political, economic and trade cooperation, he said.

There exists great potential in bilateral cooperation in such areas as logistics, ports, agriculture, steel and machine manufacturing, he said, welcoming more Chinese investments in Ukraine.

Ukraine, one of the non-permanent UN Security Council members, will assume the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for February, according to Poroshenko.

He said Ukraine is willing to increase communication and coordination with China in the world body.

Poroshenko also extended his greetings to Xi and the Chinese people for the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Xi and Poroshenko held their meeting ahead of the opening session of the 47th World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

The crisis in eastern Ukraine began in April 2014, when Kiev launched offensives against insurgents in a bid to retake the cities and towns they seized.

The Minsk agreement, signed in February 2015 in the Belarusian capital with the mediation of France and Germany, calls for a cease-fire along with a range of political, economic and social measures aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

(Source: Xinhua)

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