Mr President,

I thank Under-Secretary-General Rosemary A. DiCarlo and Assistant Secretary-General Joyce Msuya for their briefings.

As we have learned from the briefings, the serious attack that took place in a village in Kharkiv last week caused heavy civilian casualties, which China finds concerning. Protection of civilians should be a paramount priority under all circumstances. In previous deliberations at the Security Council, China repeatedly called upon the parties to the conflict to exercise calm and restraint, respect international humanitarian law, strictly abide by the principles of necessity, distinction, and proportionality, and do all they can to ensure the safety of civilians and civilian infrastructure. Today, once again, I would like to repeat those appeals.

China is deeply worried by the persistence of the Ukraine crisis and the spillover effect that is gathering pace. The flames of war and conflict are, much to our distress, continuously exacerbating the suffering and calamities inflicted on the civilians. We urge the parties concerned to respond positively to the international community’s call for peace, step up engagement, forge consensus, and create conditions, step by step, for the early resumption of peace talks. Countries that hold significant sway over the situation should play a constructive role and refrain from aggravating the tensions or intensifying the situation, so as to create an enabling environment for peace. We call on the international community to work together and work harder to ease the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and provide the Ukrainian population affected by the crisis with more assistance to help them tide over these challenging times. China will continue to stand on the side of peace and dialogue and work actively to facilitate peace and negotiations. We stand ready to level up dialogue and communication with the parties concerned and play a constructive role in the eventual political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

Thank you, President.