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China not fanning the flames of Ukrainian crisis — top diplomat

"China is not fanning the flames of the Ukrainian crisis and is not using the opportunity to benefit from it but stands for justice, urges for peace and promotes negotiations in order to ‘defuse’ the crisis and ‘quench’ the situation," Qin Gang said

SHANGHAI, April 21. /TASS/. China is not fanning the flames of the Ukrainian crisis and stands for justice, talks and de-escalation, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Friday.

"Facing the drawing out of the Ukrainian crisis, China is not fanning its flames and is not using the opportunity to benefit from it but stands for justice, urges for peace and promotes negotiations in order to ‘defuse’ the crisis and ‘quench’ the situation," the top Chinese diplomat said at the opening of the Lanting Forum in Shanghai.

On February 24, China’s Foreign Ministry published a document outlining its position on settling the crisis in Ukraine. It consists of 12 provisions, including calls for a ceasefire, observing the legitimate security interests of all countries, resolving the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, POW swaps between Moscow and Kiev as well as abandoning any unilateral sanctions without a relevant UN Security Council decision. China said that dialogue and talks were the "only way to settle the Ukrainian crisis" and called on all sides to support Moscow and Kiev in "moving toward each other" as well as to resume dialogue as soon as possible. It was stressed that the global community should foster conditions and provide a platform for the resumption of talks.

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