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China on Friday urged Russia and Ukraine to hold peace talks as soon as possible while insisting that nuclear weapons must not be used in their war.
The neutral country, which abstained from voting against Russia on Thursday at the UNGA, made the comments in a 12-point paper on the "political settlement" of the crisis, timed to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"All parties should support Russia and Ukraine in working in the same direction and resuming direct dialogue as quickly as possible," said the paper, released on the foreign ministry's website, reports AFP.
"Nuclear weapons must not be used and nuclear wars must not be fought. The threat or use of nuclear weapons should be opposed," the statement said.
It also highlighted the need to protect civilians.
"Parties to the conflict should strictly abide by international humanitarian law, avoid attacking civilians or civilian facilities," added the statement.
China has sought to position itself as a neutral party in the conflict while maintaining close ties with strategic ally Russia.
Meanwhile, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi met on Wednesday with Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he had not seen any Chinese peace plan and wanted to meet with Beijing over their proposal before assessing it.
"I think it is a very good fact in general that China started talking about Ukraine and sent some signals," Zelensky said.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
