President,

I thank Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo for her briefing.

Since the outset of the full escalation of the Ukraine crisis, China has never stopped pushing for peace and promoting peace talks. The Chinese leadership has repeatedly emphasized that in order to advance the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, it is imperative to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, to take seriously the legitimate security concerns of all states, and to support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis. 

It is worrying that the fighting in Ukraine persists with no sign of cessation. One more day of fighting means more people will die or become injured. Another day of conflict increases the risk of escalation and potential loss of control. Achieving an immediate ceasefire, restoring peace at the earliest opportunity, and establishing a balanced, effective, and sustainable European security architecture, all these serve the common interests of all parties concerned and reflect the collective aspirations of the international community. 

For some time now, China and other relevant parties have put forward a great number of initiatives and proposals for advancing the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. They constitute part and parcel of the international peace efforts, and mark important steps forward in the process leading up to final peace talks. It is our hope that all of these initiatives, proposals, and endeavors working in synergy can strengthen the parties’ readiness to embrace peace, and can bolster the international momentum for peace talks, leading eventually to a political settlement. 

Not long ago, with a view to encouraging and demonstrating support for efforts conducive to easing the situation, China and Brazil jointly launched the six-point common understandings on the Ukraine crisis, emphasizing that dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis, and calling on all parties to create conditions for the resumption of dialogue and to push for the deescalation of the situation until the realization of a comprehensive ceasefire. The six-point common understandings speak to the shared aspirations of the majority of the states and represent the broadest possible common ground at the international level on the Ukraine crisis. It has also received responses from many countries in the world. We encourage more countries to support the six-point common understandings, so as to jointly work for peace. 

President, 

At the diplomatic level, everything that China has been doing always comes back to the same message, that is, to bring the parties to the negotiating table and to achieve a political settlement. It is long been proven by history that the endpoint of every conflict is the negotiating table. We call on parties to the conflict to demonstrate their political will, to meet each other halfway, and to start the talks as soon as possible. We also call on the countries concerned to uphold objectivity and impartiality and to create conducive conditions to that end. We in particular call on the United States to work for an early end of the war and the restoration of peace, instead of continuing to escalate the tensions, provoking camp-based confrontations, and sabotaging international peace and solidarity. Going forward, China will continue our engagement and communication with all relevant parties to work relentlessly towards a political settlement of the crisis and play a constructive role in this process. 

I thank you, President.