Resolve Ukraine issue through dialogue, Xi tells Putin in phone call

ISTANBUL

“Reasonable security concerns” of all countries must be respected and the Russia-Ukraine conflict should be resolved through negotiations, China’s president said in a phone call with his Russian counterpart on Friday.

“China determines its position concerning the Ukrainian issue on its own merits,” Xi Jinping told Vladimir Putin, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.

“It is important to reject Cold War mentality, take seriously and respect the reasonable security concerns of all countries and reach a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through negotiation.”

Xi reiterated that Beijing will support “Russia in resolving the issue through negotiation with Ukraine.”

“China has long held the basic position of respecting all countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, and abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” he said.

Putin used the phone call to “set forth the historical context of the Ukrainian issue, Russia’s special military operation in eastern Ukraine and its position,” according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

“He noted that the United States and NATO have long turned a blind eye to Russia’s legitimate security concerns, and have repeatedly negated their promises to Russia,” read the statement.

“Their continued military deployment eastward has challenged Russia’s strategic red line. He also expressed Russia’s willingness to have high-level negotiation with Ukraine.”

While announcing Russia’s long-feared military intervention in Ukraine early Thursday, Putin said the operation aims to protect people “subjected to genocide” by Kyiv and to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine. He also called on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms.

The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin has considered Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s proposal for negotiations and is ready to send a delegation to Minsk for talks with Ukrainian officials.