Chinese FM urges all parties to work for peace on Ukraine issue

EIJING, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday urged all parties to take due responsibilities and make efforts towards peace on the Ukraine issue, instead of just escalating tensions, creating panic and even playing up war threat, Xinhua reported.

Wang made the remarks when answering questions on the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), European security, and the situation in Ukraine at the 58th Munich Security Conference via video link.

 In terms of the expansion of the NATO, Wang said European friends should seriously ponder whether continuous NATO eastward expansion would be conducive to maintaining and achieving lasting peace and stability in Europe.

On the Ukraine issue, it is time to return to the original point of the Minsk-2 agreement as soon as possible, since this agreement is a binding one reached through negotiations among all parties concerned and has been approved by the UN Security Council, and it is the only way out for solving the Ukraine issue, he said.

He called on the relevant parties to sit together with a full discussion and work out a roadmap and timetable for the implementation of the agreement.

Ukraine should become a bridge of communication between the East and west, instead of the front line of confrontation between major powers, he added.

As for the European security, all parties can raise their own concerns, and Russia’s legitimate security concerns should be respected and taken seriously, Wang said.

“China expects all parties to find a solution that is truly conducive to safeguarding European security through dialogue and consultations,” he added.

Raghda Sawas