China is “deeply worried” that the Ukraine conflict could spiral out of control, foreign minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday,
Beijing, which last year struck a “no limits” partnership with Moscow, has refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The United States has warned of consequences if China provides military support to Russia, which Beijing says it is not doing.
“China is deeply worried that the Ukraine conflict will continue to escalate or even spiral out of control” Qin said in a speech at a forum held at the foreign ministry.
“We urge certain countries to immediately stop fuelling the fire,” he said in comments that appeared to be directed at the United States, adding that they must “stop hyping up ‘today Ukraine, tomorrow Taiwan’”.
Qin’s comments came as Russia’s news agency TASS said China’s top diplomat Wang Yi was due to arrive in Moscow on Tuesday and ahead of a “peace speech” President Xi Jinping is expected to deliver on Friday, the anniversary of the Ukraine invasion.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Wang’s visit to Russia would be an opportunity to further promote ties between the two countries. “China is willing to take the opportunity to work with Russia to promote bilateral relations along the direction set by the two heads of state,” Wang Wenbin said at a regular news briefing.
Also on Tuesday, China released a paper on the Global Security Initiative (GSI), Xi’s flagship security proposal which aims to uphold the principle of “indivisible security”, a concept endorsed by Moscow.
Russia has insisted that Western governments respect a 1999 agreement based on the principle of “indivisible security” that no country can strengthen its own security at the expense of others.
On Monday, Wang called for a negotiated settlement to the Ukraine war during a stopover in Hungary.
The same day, U.S. President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv in a show of solidarity, promising $500 million worth of military aid to Ukraine .