Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Ukraine and Russia at the UN General Assembly this Saturday to “not spill over” into war and to protect the countries’ legitimate rights and interests.
“We urge all relevant parties to prevent the spread of the crisis and protect the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries,” Wang Yi said.
“The priority is to facilitate peace talks”, the Chinese foreign minister underlined, calling for a “peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis” through “reasonable and practical discussions”.
China is officially neutral in the conflict but has been accused by Westerners of being too accommodating to Russia, although US officials expressed confidence after Beijing’s remarks at the UN this week.
The Chinese minister met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kouleba in New York and assured him that Beijing would respect the “territorial integrity of all countries”.
“The basic solution is to address the legitimate security concerns of all parties and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security framework,” Wang Yi said.