China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, said China was open to proposals to help
mediate the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Monday (7/3). He also stressed that the
friendship between Beijing and Moscow remains strong.
"China wants to work with the international community to carry out the
required mediation, if needed," Wang said Monday.
However, he stressed the friendship between Beijing and Moscow remains
strong.
"The friendship between the two peoples is very strong, and the prospects
for cooperation between the two sides are still very broad," Wang continued.
According to Wang, the bilateral relationship between Russia and China is
the most crucial bilateral relationship in the world, and it is also
influential in world peace, stability and development.
Meanwhile, China's position is further complicated by its refusal to
denounce Russia's invasion of Ukraine. When other countries imposed
sanctions on Russia, China remained silent even though it had appealed to
all parties to take diplomacy to resolve this issue.
Previously, the European Union's Head of Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell,
assessed that China should mediate a peace dialogue between Ukraine and
Russia, given that Western powers cannot facilitate such dialogue.
"There is no other alternative, it has to be China, I'm sure of it," Borrell
said in an interview with Spanish media, El Mundo, released on Friday (4/3).
China Sends Help
Apart from that, Wang Yi stated that his country's Red Cross would send
humanitarian aid to Ukraine as soon as possible. However, Wang also praised
Beijing's good relations with Moscow which he described as rock solid
Monday.
Wang said China wanted to continue to provide support in resolving the
humanitarian crisis. He also claimed the Chinese Red Cross would soon send
aid to Ukraine, but gave no details on the aid.
Wang said the friendship between China and Russia is as solid as a rock. The
prospect of cooperation between the two countries is also said to be quite
bright.
"No matter how bad the international situation, China and Russia will
maintain their strategic cooperation and continue to support comprehensive
strategic cooperation in the new era," Wang said.
Not only that, Wang considered the root cause of the situation in Ukraine to
be quite complex and did not happen overnight.
"Solving complex problems requires calm and rationality, rather than pouring
oil on the fire and exacerbating the problem," he said.
As the world races to denounce Russia, China has refused to do the same, nor
has it declared an "invasion." China instead asked Western countries to
respect Russia's perceived security concerns.
In addition, China refused to impose economic sanctions on Russia, when
Western countries imposed various economic sanctions and made the value of
the Russian currency plummet.
However, China has said that the escalation of the crisis in Ukraine is not
something the country wants to see.