China urges talks to end Ukraine crisis

China will support any endeavor that helps alleviate the Ukraine crisis and enables its political settlement, and the nation encourages Russia and Ukraine to continue their direct negotiations, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday.

Speaking with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken by telephone, Wang said that the international community should continue supporting the talks between Russia and Ukraine until the talks produce results and peace.

Beijing also supports dialogue on an equal footing between the US, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union and Russia that faces up to the contradictions and problems accumulated over the years, he said.

He highlighted the importance of attaching importance to the negative influence of NATO's eastward expansion over the security environment of Russia, saying that a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism should be formulated under the principle of indivisible security.

The Chinese diplomat also expressed Beijing's concern over some words and deeds of Washington, which he said goes against the consensuses reached by the two presidents during their virtual summit last year.

He urged the US side to stop encouraging and supporting "Taiwan independence" moves, cease its interfering in China's domestic affairs and uphold the big picture of Sino-US relations with concrete actions.