The Ukrainian Foreign Minister said Thursday that he had spoken with his counterpart in China, a Russian ally, about respecting the principle of territorial integrity.
“We talked about the importance of the principle of territorial integrity”wrote Dmytro Kuleba on Twitter after having a phone conversation with Qin Gang.
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In the same interview, the Chinese foreign minister called on Ukraine and Russia to resume their peace talks “as soon as possible,” according to the Beijing report. “China fears that the crisis will escalate and become uncontrollable. And expect all parties to keep calm“Qin Gang said, according to a statement released by his ministry.
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Beijing presented last month a plan to twelve points to end the conflict that has been received with skepticism by both Moscow and kyivwhich has stressed that any agreement must go through a Russian withdrawal from the occupied territories.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow in the near future and will also talk by videoconference with Zelensky.
The United States believes that a talk between Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky and Chinese leader Xi Jinping would be “a good thing” and urged Beijing not to take a “one-sided” view of the conflict, the White House said.
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China has so far refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched just over a year ago, but has repeatedly stressed the importance of respecting the borders of sovereign states.
At the end of February, the Asian power presented a document in which it reaffirms its position on the invasion of Ukraine and which includes respect for sovereignty, a call for dialogue and the rejection of the use of nuclear weapons.
Russian forces occupying swathes of Ukraine are currently under intense pressure from Western-armed Ukrainian troops.
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According to the White House National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby, a ceasefire would allow Moscow “to further entrench its positions in Ukraine, rebuild its forces… and retrain them so they can resume attacks at a time of their choosing.”
A lasting peace “cannot be one-sided and has to absolutely include and be informed by Ukrainian perspectives and Ukrainian decisions”, said. Recently accused by the United States of considering supplying weapons to Russia, China has strongly denied this.
AFP
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