BEIJING, September 27. /TASS/. China, Brazil and other countries of the Global South will create a "Friends of Peace" platform to promote a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

"China, Brazil and their like-minded countries of the Global South will establish a 'Friends of Peace' platform on [resolving] the Ukrainian crisis," the Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted the top diplomat as saying at a meeting with Brazilian chief presidential advisor Celso Amorim in New York. Wang Yi pointed out that it will be "an attempt by China, Brazil and countries of the Global South to achieve peace."

The Chinese foreign minister added that the Friends of Peace "will not be a closed group, but an open platform; it will not seek competition and confrontation, but inclusive dialogue."

The international community should welcome this platform, he said. "Friends of Peace is a platform for an objective and rational voice, it should play a constructive role in the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," Wang Yi added.

In May, following the consultations, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi and Brazilian chief presidential advisor Celso Amorim issued a six-point joint statement. It said that dialogue and negotiations were the only way to resolve the Ukrainian crisis. China and Brazil proposed holding an international peace conference "at an appropriate time" "with equal participation of all parties and discussion of all peace plans." In September, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that Russia welcomed the China-Brazil peace initiative.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky sharply criticized the Brazil-China plan, calling it "destructive." In response, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Zelensky could not criticize their peace initiatives because it would be up to the West to make a decision for Kiev.