A Chinese envoy on Thursday called on parties to the Ukraine conflict to resolve the conflict through dialogue and negotiation.

As the Ukraine crisis drags on, the situation on the ground shows no signs of easing. On the contrary, the conflict has intensified in recent days and resulted in mounting civilian casualties, which is truly harrowing, Sun Lei, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council.

"China calls on the parties concerned to exercise maximum calm and restraint, prioritize peace and the well-being of their peoples, cease hostilities, strictly observe international humanitarian law, and halt attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in order to facilitate de-escalation as soon as possible," said Sun.

To defuse the crisis, achieve peace and protect civilians, the most fundamental approach is to resolve the conflict through dialogue and negotiation. Although the path to peace may be arduous, dialogue is always preferable to confrontation and peace talks are always more desirable than war, he said.

"China supports all efforts aimed at achieving peace. China hopes that the parties concerned will resume engagement and negotiations as soon as possible, demonstrate political will toward each other, take seriously and address each other's legitimate security concerns, and eliminate the root causes of the crisis in complete compliance with the principles of the UN Charter, with a view to reaching a comprehensive, lasting, and binding peace agreement," said Sun.

China will work tirelessly with the international community to usher in the dawn of peace and achieve a political settlement of the crisis at an early date, he said.