China opposes unilateral sanctions, which will create new problems and interfere with the process of a political settlement, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a phone call with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Saturday. The two sides mainly exchanged views on the current situation in Ukraine.

Wang stressed that China is paying close attention to the situation in Ukraine and supports all efforts conducive to easing the situation and a political settlement. Under the circumstances of NATO’s eastward expansion for five consecutive rounds, Russia’s legitimate security aspirations should be properly addressed.

As the Cold War has long since ended, it is necessary for NATO to reconsider its positioning and responsibilities, and the Cold War mentality based on bloc confrontation should be completely abandoned, Wang said.

China supports the resumption of dialogues between NATO, the EU and Russia, and seeks to build a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism to achieve lasting peace and stability on the European continent.

China opposes the use of sanctions to resolve issues and strongly condemns unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law, Wang noted. It has long been proved that sanctions, far from solving problems, will only create new ones. They will interfere with the process of a political settlement.

On February 25 local time, the United Nations Security Council voted on the draft resolution on the situation in Ukraine submitted by the US and Albania. The resolution has not been adopted and was vetoed by the Russian Federation. China, India and the United Arab Emirates all abstained.

After the meeting, Wang elaborated on China’s basic position on the Ukrainian issue: China believes that the UN Security Council should play a constructive role in resolving the Ukrainian issue and give priority to regional peace and stability as well as the general security of all countries. 

We believe that the UN Security Council should contribute to a political settlement of the current crisis rather than fomenting new rivalries. In view of this, China has blocked the use of expressions authorizing the use of force and sanctions in the Security Council resolution on Ukraine, Wang said.

Global Times