Beijing: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Friday called for utmost efforts to support the ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, even as he opposed sanctions imposed by the US and the EU on Moscow, stating they will hurt the world economy from recovering amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Calling the current situation in Ukraine “disconcerting,” Li said at his annual press conference at the end of China’s Parliament session here that the pressing task now is to prevent tensions from escalating or even getting out of control.
China calls for exercising utmost restraint and preventing a massive humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Li said, adding that China is willing to work with the international community to play a positive role for the early return of peace in Ukraine.
China has all along followed an independent foreign policy of peace and never targeted a third party, Li said, playing down Beijing’s close ties with Russia.
He said sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected, but legitimate concerns of security of countries have to be taken seriously, in an apparent reference to Russia’s anxieties over Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
“The sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected. The purposes and principles of the UN charter should be observed and legitimate concerns of all countries should be taken seriously,” Li said, pointing out that economic sanctions would hurt the global economic recovery.
“Reeling from COVID, the world economy today is already struggling. Relevant sanctions will hurt the world economy. It is in no one’s interest,” he said.
On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his virtual summit with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, termed the war in Ukraine as “worrisome” and criticised the US and the EU sanctions against Russia, saying such measures would create a global crisis which is in the “interest of no one”.
Ever since Russia began military operations in Ukraine in late February, China, a close ally of Moscow, has been treading a fine-line, declining to condemn it as an invasion.
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in his annual press conference, said “the China-Russia relationship is grounded in a clear logic of history and driven by strong internal dynamics, and the friendship between the Chinese and Russian peoples is rock-solid”.
“No matter how precarious and challenging the international situation may be, China and Russia will maintain strategic focus and steadily advance our comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era,” he had said.
PTI