Highlighting diplomatic negotiations as the only right way to solve the Ukraine crisis, Dai Bing, charge d'affaires of China's permanent mission to the United Nations, said "conflicts have no winners" and called on the international community to promote peace talks with the highest sense of urgency and work to create enabling factors and platforms for the resumption of negotiation.
(Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Friday called for a resumption of non-conditional talks between Russia and Ukraine, stressing that Ukraine is not "an arena for fights between major countries."
"We call on Russia and Ukraine to resume negotiations without any preconditions," said Dai Bing, charge d'affaires of China's permanent mission to the United Nations, while addressing a high-level UN Security Council briefing on Ukraine.
"Ukraine is not an arena for fights between major countries. No one should seek to benefit from the conflict at the cost of the Ukrainian people," he said.
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| Dai Bing (C, front), charge d'affaires of China's permanent mission to the United Nations, addresses a high-level Security Council briefing on Ukraine at the UN headquarters in New York, Feb. 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Xie E) |
The security of one country should not be pursued at the expense of others. Strengthening or even expanding military blocs will only undermine regional security and will never bring about peace, he said.
Russia, Ukraine and European countries are neighbors that cannot be physically moved away. To realize lasting peace and stability in Europe, the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation must be abandoned, and the legitimate security concerns of all countries must be taken seriously and addressed properly, so as to build a balanced, effective and sustainable regional security architecture, said Dai.
The envoy said China is ready to continue to play a responsible and constructive role in resolving the Ukraine crisis.
China issued earlier Friday a paper stating its position on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, he said. "We have always taken an objective and impartial stance based on the merits of the issue."
Dai stressed that when handling and solving international disputes, universally recognized international law, including the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, must be upheld.
The sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively guaranteed. Observing universally recognized international law and the basic norms governing international relations bears on the stability of the international system and international fairness and justice. They should be equally and uniformly applied in every place and on every issue without exception, he said.
"Some country, while stressing sovereignty and territorial integrity on the Ukraine issue, is blatantly interfering in other countries' internal affairs and undermining their sovereignty and territorial integrity," Dai said. "This reveals its double standard at full display. The international community is clear-eyed about this."
He underscored the need to pursue common security to facilitate a political solution to the Ukraine crisis, saying security is not an exclusive right enjoyed only by some countries.
Highlighting diplomatic negotiations as the only right way to solve the Ukraine crisis, he said "conflicts have no winners" and called on the international community to promote peace talks with the highest sense of urgency and work to create enabling factors and platforms for the resumption of negotiation.
Bringing parties to the conflict back to the negotiating table is not going to be easy, but it is the first step toward a political solution, he said.
Dai emphasized that it is imperative to never cross the red line of nuclear security under any circumstances.
Nuclear weapons must never be used, and nuclear war must never be fought. Faced with the risk that the Ukraine crisis could lead to an escalation of the conflict, major countries bear special and important responsibilities to maintain communication and coordination and to do everything they can to prevent a nuclear crisis, he said.
The international community should jointly oppose armed attacks against nuclear power plants or other peaceful nuclear facilities, ensure strict compliance with the Convention on Nuclear Safety, among others, and support the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in playing a constructive role in promoting the safety and security of peaceful nuclear facilities, he added.
The humanitarian crisis is worsening and should be proactively and properly addressed, Dai said.
The international humanitarian law is a code of conduct that must be strictly observed in conflict situations. Relevant parties should avoid attacking civilians or civilian facilities, protect the vulnerable, including women and children, ensure humanitarian access, and respect the basic rights of prisoners of war, he said.
The international community should increase humanitarian assistance, help restore civilian infrastructure, and ensure the basic livelihood of refugees and displaced persons, with a view to preventing a humanitarian crisis on a larger scale, Dai said.
"At the same time, humanitarian operations should earnestly follow the principles of neutrality and impartiality and avoid politicization," he stressed.
The envoy also urged efforts to be made to manage the spillovers of the Ukraine crisis, which he said has far-reaching impacts, noting that developing countries that are not parties to this conflict should not pay an excessively high price for it.
Some relevant parties have been resorting to unilateral sanctions and maximum pressure, which cannot solve any issue, and can only undermine the stability of the global industrial and supply chains and exacerbate the global food, energy and financial crises, he said.
"We hope that the relevant parties will take responsible actions and stop abusing unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction," said Dai.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative and the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the United Nations and Russia on the export of food products and fertilizers have great significance for ensuring global food security and should be implemented fully and effectively in a balanced manner, he said.
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