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Chinese top diplomat slams calls ‘forcing to take a side’ in Ukrainian conflict

Wang Yi recalled that Beijing had always played a constructive role in the assistance to peaceful talks

BEIJING, June 7. /TASS/. China calls against attempts of exterior authorities’ to drag other states into the conflict of world powers against the background of the Ukrainian conflict and against threats to ‘choose a particular side,’ China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday.

"China has always played a constructive role in the assistance to peaceful talks," Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday during his meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the city of Nur-Sultan.

"It is necessary under the present-day situation to be aware of third parties’ attempts to drag countries of the region into the conflict of world powers and to avoid their threats to take a certain side," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement quoting Wang Yi as saying.

"China will never be pursuing geopolitical interests in Central Asia and will also not permit outer powers to initiate chaos in this region," Wang Yi said.

The situation at the line of engagement in Donbass escalated on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian military in recent months, which damaged civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.

On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their leaders. Russia recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.

Russian President Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.

The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kiev’s control.

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine China

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