Reply To: Russian Tensions

Having succeeded in reconciling Saudi Arabia and Iran, has China’s initiative got any chance.

China’s foreign minister urged Kyiv and Moscow to restart peace talks “as soon as possible,” saying Beijing fears the conflict “could escalate and get out of control.”

Beijing “hopes that all parties will keep calm, exercise restraint, resume peace talks as soon as possible and return to the track of political settlement,” Foreign Minister Qin Gang told his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in a phone call.

The call was the first official talks between the pair since the Chinese foreign minister took office in December.

Beijing last month published a position paper on Moscow’s war in Ukraine, calling for dialogue and seeking to position itself as a neutral mediator.

China’s Foreign Ministry said that Qin had reiterated his support for that proposal during the call, saying Beijing had “upheld an objective and just position on the Ukrainian issue, committed itself to promoting peace talks and called on the international community to create conditions for peace talks.”

Meanwhile, Kuleba tweeted that he and Qin discussed the “significance of the principle of territorial integrity” for Ukraine in a joint call.