\u2018As soon as possible\u2019
\nChina is concerned that the crisis could escalate and get out of control, says Qin Gang
\n BEIJING
\nChina\u2019s foreign minister on Thursday urged Kyiv and Moscow to restart peace talks \u201cas soon as possible\u201d, saying Beijing fears the conflict \u201ccould escalate and get out of control.\u201d
\nBeijing \u201chopes that all parties will keep calm, exercise restraint, resume peace talks as soon as possible and return to the track of political settlement\u201d, Foreign Minister Qin Gang told his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in a phone call.
\nThe call was the first official talks between the pair since the Chinese foreign minister took office in December.
\n\u201cChina is concerned that the crisis could escalate and get out of control,\u201d Qin said.
\n\u201cChina hopes that Ukraine and Russia retain hope for dialogue and negotiation,\u201d he added.
\nChina has been criticised by Western countries for failing to condemn Moscow\u2019s invasion of its European neighbour, and last month strongly denied US claims that it was mulling arms shipments to support Russia\u2019s war.
\nBeijing last month published a position paper on Moscow\u2019s war in Ukraine, calling for dialogue and seeking to position itself as a neutral mediator.
\nQin reiterated Thursday his support for that proposal, saying Beijing had \u201cupheld an objective and just position on the Ukrainian issue, committed itself to promoting peace talks and called on the international community to create conditions for peace talks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018As soon as possible\u2019 China is concerned that the crisis could escalate and get out of control, says Qin Gang BEIJING China\u2019s foreign minister on Thursday urged Kyiv and Moscow to restart peace talks \u201cas soon as possible\u201d, saying Beijing fears the conflict \u201ccould escalate and get out of control.\u201d Beijing \u201chopes that all parties […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320002,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-319986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n