Hong Kong (CNN) – China’s envoy to the United Nations on Monday called for “all parties” to exercise restraint and avoid “fueling tensions” in Ukraine, but stopped short of condemning the Kremlin’s recognition of independence for two pro-Moscow regions in the east of the country.
Beijing is navigating a complex position as the crisis in Ukraine intensifies, as it attempts to balance deepening ties with Moscow with its practiced foreign policy of staunchly defending state sovereignty.
In a brief statement at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council Monday night, China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun said Beijing welcomed and encouraged every effort for a diplomatic solution, adding that all concerns should be treated on the “basis of equality.”
“The current situation in Ukraine is the result of many complex factors. China always makes its own position according to the merits of the matter itself. We believe that all countries should solve international disputes by peaceful means in line with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” Zhang said.
The security council meeting comes as world leaders desperately try to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine, which saw a rapid shift after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces into two breakaway Moscow-backed territories after recognizing them as independent — a move Western officials suggest would provide a pretext to a broader invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has for weeks said that it would not invade Ukraine, and in the security council meeting defended its actions as efforts “to protect and preserve those people” living in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic (DPR and LPR).
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Monday about developments in North Korea and “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” according to a brief readout from the State Department.
“The Secretary underscored the need to preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the readout said. China’s Foreign Ministry website did not include a readout of the call as of publication time.
China had earlier urged parties involved in the Ukraine crisis to return to the Minsk agreements, referring to accords reached in 2014 and 2015 following conflicts in eastern Ukraine that uphold Kyiv’s control over its border with Russia.
In comments on Saturday while addressing the Munich Security Conference, Wang said “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected and safeguarded.”
But Western leaders on Monday said Russia’s latest move violated the agreement, with US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield saying Putin had “torn the Minsk agreements to shreds.”
She also said every UN member state has a stake in this brewing crisis. “This is a moment for collective action,” she said. “There is too much at risk for anyone to sit on the fence.”
Though not military allies, China and Russia have been presenting an increasingly united front in the face of what they view as Western interference into their respective affairs and regions.
A sweeping joint statement released February 4 following a meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Putin did not mention Ukraine, but saw China back Russia’s central demand to the West, with both sides “opposing further enlargement of NATO.”
Russia and China have a long history of supporting each other against what they view as Western interference in their domestic affairs, pushing back on US-led sanctions and often voting as a bloc in the UN.
