BEIJING, July 3. /TASS/. Russia and China maintain contact on the Ukraine conflict, but Moscow makes its own decisions about how to proceed, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning said, refuting the claim that Russia is completely "dependent on China."

"China and Russia are both major countries that make independent decisions. <…> We will, as always, stand on the side of peace and dialogue, maintain communication with all parties, including Russia," she emphasized at a briefing, responding to a Western journalist who asked to comment on the words of Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who earlier told Bloomberg that Russia is "so dependent on China right now that one phone call from President Xi Jinping would solve this [Ukrainian] crisis."

Mao Ning reiterated that Beijing did not spark the Ukrainian conflict and is not involved in it. She added that China will further "play a constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the crisis."