BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday that China is happy to see Russia and relevant parties make positive efforts to defuse the Ukraine crisis.
Xi made the remarks when talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin over phone.
Xi stressed that at the beginning of the overall escalation of the Ukraine crisis, he put forward the “four-should” and other basic proposals for resolving the crisis.
In September last year, China and Brazil, together with some countries of the Global South, set up the Group of Friends for Peace on the Ukraine crisis to create an atmosphere and accumulate conditions for promoting the political settlement of the crisis, Xi noted.
The two sides also agreed to maintain communication and coordination through various means.
Xi also said that history and reality show that China and Russia are good neighbors that cannot be moved away, and true friends who share weal and woe, support each other and achieve common development.
Xi said the two leaders had a video meeting before the Chinese Spring Festival during which they made plans for the development of China-Russia relations throughout the year and strengthened coordination on a series of major international and regional issues.
Various departments from both countries are steadily advancing cooperation in all fields in accordance with the consensus reached by the two leaders, including carrying out activities to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the 80th anniversary of the victory of World Anti-Fascist War, Xi said.
Xi said China-Russia ties enjoy strong internal driving force and unique strategic value, adding that the relationship does not target any third party nor would it be influenced by any third party. The development strategies and foreign policies of China and Russia are for the long-term, he said.
Despite changes in the international situation, China-Russia relations will proceed with ease, which will help each other’s development and revitalization, and inject stability and positive energy into international relations, he said.
On Monday, the UN Security Council is set to vote on two dueling resolutions – one backed by Kiev and Europe demanding an immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine, and the other proposed by the US which CNN said does not condemn Russia, nor makes any acknowledgement of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
The two resolutions highlight the tension between the US, Ukraine and European countries in the five weeks since President Donald Trump took office and has opened talks with Russia after years of isolation in a bid to end the war, Associated Press reported Monday.
On Monday, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and other members of the EU’s executive branch visited Kiev to show support for Ukraine on the third anniversary of the conflict.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are making tag-team visits to Washington this week as Europe attempts to persuade Trump not to abandon Ukraine in pursuit of a peace deal, PBS reported.
Macron is set to meet Trump on Monday local time and Starmer on Thursday, per Politico.
