Chinese commitment to peace underscored

Foreign ministers reaffirm efforts to find political settlement to the Ukraine crisis

The latest phone conversation between senior diplomats of Beijing and Moscow has underlined China's unchanged commitment to peacemaking and political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, observers said.

Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and China's foreign minister, spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday.

Wang stressed that when it comes to the crisis in Ukraine, "China will uphold an independent and impartial position and make an objective and rational voice on any international multilateral occasion".

He also said that China actively promotes peace and talks and strives to find a political solution.

Lavrov mentioned China's position paper released in February for a political settlement of the crisis. He said that Moscow highly agrees with the paper and it "appreciates and welcomes China's constructive role in this regard", according to a release by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

China's peaceful role in easing the situation in Ukraine has recently drawn the attention of many countries and the media.

During the weekend, Li Hui, the Chinese government's special representative for Eurasian affairs, attended an international conference regarding Ukraine in Saudi Arabia's coastal city of Jeddah.

"China stands ready to work with the international community to continue to play a constructive role in seeking a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin had said prior to the meeting.

The two-day conference on the Ukraine crisis concluded in Jeddah on Sunday.

"The participants agreed on the importance of continuing international consultation and exchanging views to pave the way for peace," Arab News reported.

China's participation in the meeting has been constructive, Ukrainian newspaper Ukrainska Pravda quoted European officials as saying.

Consistent style

Li Yongquan, head of the China Society for Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies, said, "China's diplomacy has developed a consistent style of matching its words with actions and being action-oriented."

Beijing has been speaking up and doing its best for peace in the process of promoting the resolution of the crisis in Ukraine, he added.

Monday's phone conversation also touched upon the upcoming BRICS Summit in South Africa scheduled at the end of this month.

China and Russia are both BRICS members, together with other three major emerging economies — Brazil, India and South Africa.

Observers noted that the great vitality of the BRICS mechanism has partly contributed to the fact that more than 20 countries have expressed their willingness to join the group of emerging economies.

In the phone conversation, Wang said Beijing is willing to work with BRICS partners, including Russia, to support South Africa in hosting the upcoming BRICS Summit.

Speaking on China-Russia cooperation in the international and multilateral contexts, Wang said the two nations should "continue their close strategic collaboration "and "safeguard the basic norms of international relations", which is a natural part of China-Russia ties.

Lavrov said Russia is willing to continue strengthening communication and cooperation with China under the multilateral frameworks of the United Nations, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, oppose hegemony and reject unilateralism.

On bilateral relations, Wang said the two countries "have made new progress in both strategic collaboration and practical cooperation "since President Xi Jinping's visit to Russia in March.

He noted that bilateral trade volume has reached a record high, energy cooperation has been steadily carried out, and the two sides' top priority now is to continue to implement the key consensus reached by the two heads of state.

Huang Rihan, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Minzu University of China, said: "One of the most prominent signs representing the great maturity of the bilateral ties is the great importance attached by both governments and the general public of the two countries in developing the relations."

"The growth of their ties is also not subject to impacts by any third party," he added.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn