China has not provided any weapons to either side of Ukraine conflict: FM

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China has not provided any weapons to either side of the Ukraine conflict, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday.

China is not the creator of the crisis, nor a party directly concerned. "What has China done to deserve being blamed, or even sanctioned and threatened? This is absolutely unacceptable," Qin said at a press conference on the sidelines of China's annual legislative session.

Calling the Ukraine crisis a tragedy that could have been avoided, Qin said it is in essence an eruption of the problems built up in the security governance of Europe.

China always makes its own judgment independently based on the merits of the issue, Qin said.

China chooses peace over war, dialogue over sanctions, and cooling down the situation over fueling the flames, he added.

Noting that efforts for peace talks have been repeatedly undermined, Qin said that there seems to be "an invisible hand" pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict and using the Ukraine crisis to serve certain geopolitical agenda.

Stressing that conflict, sanctions and pressure will not solve the problem, Qin said what is needed is calmness, reason and dialogue.

The process of peace talks should begin as soon as possible, he said.