China supports all Ukraine peace efforts Gaza is not a bargaining chip says Wang

UNITED NATIONS - China “supports all efforts conducive to peace talks” in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the United Nations Security Council on Feb 18, after Russian and US officials met in Saudi Arabia on Feb 18 and agreed to press ahead with efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Mr Wang also emphasised that Gaza and the West Bank are “not a bargaining chip in political trade-offs”. He said Beijing would continue to follow four points outlined by Chinese President Xi Jinping on what should be done.

China’s official Xinhua news agency listed these as respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, observance of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, paying due regard to legitimate security concerns of all countries, and supporting efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis.

Mr Wang chaired a meeting of the 15-member Security Council on multilateralism because China is president for February.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said that with regard to efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, it was “becoming clear who genuinely advocates a more fair, more equal world, and who are living in the past and are striving at any cost to make their geopolitical agendas a reality”.

“Any state claiming to act as a mediator in proposing peace initiatives must, first and foremost, clearly understand what caused this conflict,” Mr Nebenzia told the Security Council.

He described the root cause of the conflict as disregard for Russia’s security interests and an aspiration to “inflict a geopolitical defeat on Russia”, as well as failure by Ukraine’s government to respect the rights of its entire population.

On the Middle East, Mr Wang said it is vital to uphold the two-state solution.

US President Donald Trump caused outrage earlier in February when he