Wang Yi: China Advances Peace Talks on Ukraine

China’s consistent position on the Ukrainian crisis was outlined by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. “China favors promoting peace talks, and although the conditions for peace talks have not yet been established, China will never stop its efforts for peace,” Xinhua news agency wrote, reporting the minister’s words at a press meeting also attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

“China also encourages and supports all world’s initiatives and efforts that contribute to alleviating the situation and achieving peace,” continued Wang, who also explained how Beijing attaches importance to the work done by Switzerland in preparing the Ukraine Peace Summit. But he also added: “There are a lot of summits going on in the world today. It will be up to China to decide whether and how to participate, based on its own position.”

Wang also spoke about Ukraine at a meeting in late May with Celso Amorim, a special adviser to Brazilian President Lula. At that time, they reached six agreements on possible solutions to promote de-escalation.

“China believes that the world should now express its views on the Ukraine crisis in a more objective, balanced, positive, and constructive way,” noted Wang, who concluded by explaining that 45 countries on five continents have responded positively to this “common understanding,” and 26 countries have reaffirmed their commitment to the agreement. “China is convinced that the more countries support these six common agreements, the closer the day of a truly peaceful summit will be, and the brighter the prospects for peace.”