China calls for political settlement of Ukraine crisis

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Friday called for international efforts toward a political resolution to the Ukraine crisis.

The international community should work together to find a fair and sensible solution so that the crisis can be settled politically and peace can prevail, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN).

He made the appeal at a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council scheduled to coincide with the second anniversary of the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.

The Ukraine crisis has caused incalculable damage. The most pressing priority is to stop the hostilities, launch peace talks and restore peace. Peace is in the interests of all parties, said Zhang.

China calls on the parties concerned to show a sense of responsibility and make constructive diplomatic efforts to promote de-escalation and to create favorable conditions for the resumption of negotiations. He said that the parties concerned should not create artificial obstacles to make peace more challenging to achieve, much less supply weapons to profit from the prolonged crisis.

Zhang stressed that strengthening or expanding a military bloc cannot guarantee regional security.

"It must be pointed out that the situation that Europe is facing today is closely related to the repeated eastward expansion of NATO since the end of the Cold War. We encourage NATO to do some soul-searching, come out of the cage of Cold War mentality and refrain from acting as an agent of troubles that instigates bloc confrontation. We urge the head of NATO to look at the world through an objective lens, stop saber-rattling and do that which is truly conducive to world peace," he said.

Using the Ukraine crisis as a pretext, certain countries have indiscriminately imposed unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction and have exerted unjustified pressure on the businesses of other countries, adversely impacting global industrial and supply chains and disrupting the global trade order, Zhang said.

China firmly opposes the unlawful sanctions imposed on Chinese companies by the United States, Britain and the European Union, using the Ukraine issue as an excuse. He said that China will continue to take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its enterprises and citizens.

Major countries have a special responsibility for world peace and security and must responsibly conduct their relations and adequately manage their differences in pursuit of win-win cooperation, he said.

China played no part in creating the Ukraine crisis, nor is China a party to the crisis. Yet China has not been indifferent to the conflict, much less cashing in on the crisis, said the Chinese envoy.

Regarding Ukraine, China has always maintained that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter observed, the legitimate security concerns of all countries given due regard, and all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis supported, Zhang said.

"China's constructive role and unremitting efforts toward a political settlement of the Ukraine issue will continue," he said.