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China to skip Swiss conference on Ukraine amid key factors in holding it lacking — MFA

"The fact China will not attend this conference does not mean it does not favor peace," Mao Ning stressed

BEIJING, June 3. /TASS/. China will not send a delegation to the conference on Ukraine in Switzerland in the absence of key factors in holding it, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said.

"We have repeatedly stressed that the peace conference [on Ukraine] should have the recognition of Russia and Ukraine. Everybody should participate in it on an equal basis, and all peace initiatives should be discussed fairly," the Chinese diplomat told a press briefing. "It will be hard for us to take part in this conference as we think that these three aspects will be difficult to achieve during the conference," she added.

"The fact China will not attend this conference does not mean it does not favor peace," Mao added.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry earlier said Bern had invited more than 160 delegations to the Burgenstock conference to be held on June 15-16, including delegations from G7, G20 and BRICS countries. According to Swiss officials, Russia wasn’t invited. Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said Kiev was disappointed that Beijing would not attend the Swiss summit. He even accused China of working hard to prevent countries from taking part.

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