President,

I thank Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča for his briefing. 

Since the Ukraine crisis fully escalated in February 2022, two years and a half have passed. These two years and a half have witnessed protracted fighting on the ground, a deteriorating humanitarian crisis, and ever-unfolding spillover effects. This is tragic and worrisome. Since the beginning of this month, the war has taken a new turn, with both parties to the conflict thrown into a new round of fierce fighting, leading to severe casualties and infrastructure damages. The endless war will bring nothing but more harm, more damages, and finally, a lose-lose outcome, making an already turbulent world even more unpredictable. 

In view of the increasingly severe and complex situation, China has stressed on many occasions that the current priority is to follow three principles of no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of the fighting, and no provocation by any party, with a view to achieving deescalation as soon as possible. We welcome the new round of prisoners exchange between Russia and Ukraine under the good offices of the UAE. We once again call on both parties to stay calm, exercise restraint, abide by IHL in real earnest, and refrain from attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure or nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities for peaceful purposes. We call on all parties to the conflict to demonstrate the political will, move towards each other, cease the fighting, and launch peace talks at an early date. We call on the international community to uphold an objective and impartial position, and to this end, create favorable conditions and provide concrete support. 

President, 

Despite the twists and turns on the path towards peace, China has been committed to working for peace and promoting talks. As long as it is conducive to alleviating the situation and facilitating negotiations, China is there making its efforts. Recently, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs visited Brazil, South Africa, and Indonesia for the fourth round of shuttle diplomacy on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. During the exchanges, all parties highly appreciated the six common understandings on political settlement of the Ukraine crisis issued by China and Brazil. They all expressed worries about the escalation of the conflict, and unanimously called for early launch of peace talks. China is ready to continue its close communication with the Global South and other relevant countries and make unremitting efforts towards a political settlement. 

In conclusion, I wish to reiterate that on the question of Ukraine, China has always maintained that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be observed, the legitimate security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously, and all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis should be supported. Based on the four “should” mentioned above, China will continue to work for a political settlement of the crisis. 

Thank you, President.