Beijing, which has positioned itself as a neutral player, is maintaining contact with all parties involved, a senior official said.
China will continue its diplomatic efforts to help resolve crises affecting the world, including the Ukraine conflict, said Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong.
Speaking at the Xiangshan Security Forum on Saturday, Chen reiterated that Beijing maintains “in-depth communication with all stakeholders to build consensus to end the conflict and pave the way for peace talks.”
He will do it too “To act as a mediator and promote the political resolution of conflict issues,” he added.
Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, China has positioned itself as a neutral party and has repeatedly called for negotiations to end the conflict. It has also refused to support Western sanctions against Russia, saying the West provoked the hostilities by expanding NATO.
In July, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a rare round of talks with his then Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba. Following these negotiations, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that Beijing believes that the solution to the conflict must ultimately come through a return to the negotiating table, noting that “Both Ukraine and Russia have sent signals of willingness to negotiate to varying degrees.”
But after Ukraine launched its full-scale incursion into Russia in early August, Moscow said it would refuse to participate as long as kyiv's forces occupied part of its internationally recognized territory.
Earlier this week, Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky also criticized China and Brazil, suggesting they were “to take Russia’s side” in the conflict, since they had launched peace initiatives without first consulting kyiv.
In May, the two countries proposed a six-point plan that included measures to prevent escalation and also called for direct negotiations between Moscow and kyiv and an international peace conference acceptable to both Russia and Ukraine.
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