BEIJING
\nChina\u2019s Red Cross will provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine \u201cas soon as possible\u201d, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday, as he praised his country\u2019s friendship with Russia as \u201crock solid\u201d.
\nChina has refused to condemn Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine or call it an invasion while asking Western countries to respect Russia\u2019s \u201clegitimate security concerns.\u201d
\nWang said the causes of the \u201cUkraine situation\u201d were \u201ccomplex\u201d and had not happened overnight, noting, using a traditional Chinese expression, that \u201cthree feet of ice does not form in a single day\u201d.
\n\u201cSolving complex problems requires calmness and rationality, rather than adding fuel to the fire and intensifying contradictions,\u201d he told a news conference on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China\u2019s parliament.
\nChina has already done \u201csome work\u201d to promote peace talks and has all along been in contact with all sides, he added.
\n\u201cChina is willing to continue to play a constructive role in pushing for peace and promoting talks, and is willing to work with the international community to carry out necessary mediation when needed.\u201d
\nChina is willing to continue to make its own efforts to resolve the humanitarian crisis and the country\u2019s Red Cross will \u201cas soon as possible\u201d provide a batch of aid to Ukraine, Wang said, without giving details. It was the first time the country has announced such help.
\nChina proposes that \u201chumanitarian action\u201d must abide by the principles of neutrality and impartiality, and humanitarian issues should not be politicised, he added.
\nRussian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping hours before the start of last month\u2019s Winter Olympics in Beijing and they signed a wide-ranging strategic partnership aimed at countering U.S. influence and said they would have \u201cno \u2018forbidden\u2019 areas of cooperation\u201d.
\nWang said the friendship between China and Russia was \u201crock solid\u201d and prospects for cooperation bright.
\n\u201cNo matter how sinister the international situation is, both China and Russia will maintain their strategic determination and continuously push forward the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination in the new era.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING China\u2019s Red Cross will provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine \u201cas soon as possible\u201d, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday, as he praised his country\u2019s friendship with Russia as \u201crock solid\u201d. China has refused to condemn Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine or call it an invasion while asking Western countries to respect Russia\u2019s \u201clegitimate security […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[18,3297,338,456],"class_list":{"0":"post-248256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-china","9":"tag-humanitarian-aid","10":"tag-russia","11":"tag-ukraine"},"yoast_head":"\n