China’s President Xi Jinping has stressed in his talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that "voices for peace and rationality" on Ukraine issue "are building."
“Most countries support easing tensions, stand for peace talks, and are against adding fuel to the fire,” Xi told Putin during their Monday night meeting in Moscow, according to China’s Foreign Ministry statement.
Xi is on a three-day trip to Russia until Wednesday.
Russia launched a war on Ukraine in February last year, which has resulted in deaths and wounds to thousands of people and forced millions more to flee the war-torn country due to Russian forces bombing and shelling.
Russia launched a war on Ukraine in February of last year that resulted in the deaths and injuries of thousands of people and forced emigration of millions more from the war-torn country.
According to Beijing, Xi and Putin had an “in-depth exchange of views on the Ukraine issue.”
“A review of history shows that conflicts in the end have to be settled through dialogue and negotiation,” Xi noted.
He added that China advocated a political settlement of the crisis and rejected the Cold War mentality and unilateral sanctions.
“China believes that the more difficulties there are, the greater the need to keep space for peace. The more acute the problem is, the more important it is not to give up efforts for dialogue,” the Chinese president told Putin, adding that Beijing “will continue to play a constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the Ukraine issue.”
According to the readout of the meeting released by Beijing, Putin told Xi that Russia is "open to talks" for peace on the Ukraine issue.
Welcoming Beijing’s “constructive role” in this regard, Putin said: “Russia has carefully studied China’s position paper on the political settlement of the Ukraine issue and is open to talks for peace. Russia welcomes China to play a constructive role in this regard.”
Last month, China released a statement outlining Beijing’s position on a political settlement to the war in Ukraine, which included 12 points such as respecting the sovereignty of all countries, ceasing hostilities, resuming peace talks, and resolving the humanitarian crisis in the region.
The plan also called for the safety of nuclear power plants, the facilitation of grain exports, and the cessation of unilateral sanctions, stressing that "dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solutions to the Ukraine crisis."
“Russia appreciates China for consistently upholding an impartial, objective, and balanced position and standing for fairness and justice on major international issues,” China's Foreign Ministry said, quoting Putin.
