President, 

The issue of Ukraine has now entered a critical phase of a negotiated solution. The international community’s calls for peace and dialogue are growing stronger. The key stakeholders have held a series of engagements and negotiations. China welcomes these developments and supports all efforts that lead to peace. We hope that the international community will seize the recent positive momentum to promote an early political settlement of the crisis.

First, it is imperative to jointly facilitate negotiations. Dialogue and negotiations remain the only viable path out of the crisis. China calls on the parties to the conflict to maintain the momentum of dialogue, demonstrate political will, build consensus, and strive to reach a just, lasting, and binding peace agreement at an early date. The international community should facilitate a political settlement by fostering a positive atmosphere, creating favorable conditions, and providing necessary support. 

Second, it is imperative to jointly promote deescalation. China urges all relevant parties to adhere to the three principles of no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of the fighting, and no fanning up the flame by any party, in order to promote deescalation and create conditions for the political settlement. The parties to the conflict should prioritize humanitarian concerns and the well-being of civilians, exercise maximum restraint, and strictly observe international humanitarian law. Under whatever circumstances, they must refrain from targeting civilians, refrain from using WMDs, and refrain from attacking nuclear power plants and other critical infrastructure. 

Third, it is imperative to jointly contain the spillover effects. The ongoing crisis continues to impinge on global sustainable development. The earlier the fighting ends and unilateral sanctions are lifted, the sooner global supply chains can regain resilience and the sooner the world economy can recover. China calls on the international community to strengthen cooperation on issues such as food, energy, finance, trade, and the protection of critical infrastructure, in order to jointly maintain the stability and smooth functioning of global supply chains and safeguard the legitimate rights and development space of developing countries. 

Fourth, it is imperative to jointly build a European security architecture. The Ukraine crisis is essentially a major eruption of tensions in Europe on the security front. Regarding future security guarantees for Ukraine, some ideas and proposals have been floated during recent interactions among various parties. China calls on all parties to embrace the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security, bear in mind the principle of indivisible security, accommodate each other’s legitimate concerns, and strive to find a security guarantee acceptable to all, in order to build a balanced, effective, and sustainable security architecture and achieve lasting peace and security in Europe. 

President, 

On the issue of Ukraine, China upholds an objective, impartial, and consistent position, working tirelessly to promote a political solution through peaceful negotiations. From the very outset of the conflict, President Xi Jinping proposed the four shoulds, namely, 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. These four principles are of even greater relevance under the current circumstances.

Over the past three years, guided by the four shoulds, China has been working relentlessly for peace and dialogue. We have never provided weapons to either party to the conflict and consistently maintained strict control over the export of dual-use items. We have maintained communications with both Russia and Ukraine, as well as with other relevant parties. We have sent our special envoys for shuttle diplomacy, and together with Brazil and other countries of the Global South, initiated the Group of Friends for Peace, in order to garner consensus and advocate peace efforts. China stands ready to work with the international community and continue our constructive role for the early political settlement of the crisis. 

Thank you, President.