China has never supplied Russia with weapons in the war in Ukraine and insists that peace talks begin as soon as possible. The new Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang he reiterated Beijing’s position in his first press conference, which he held on the sidelines of the annual session of the People’s Assembly, and denounced “the invisible hand that is using the Ukrainian crisis to serve some geopolitical agendas”.

“The China is not a party to the crisis and has not supplied weapons to any of the warring parties – Qin articulates – So on what basis do we speak of guilt, sanctions and threats against China? All this is absolutely unacceptable”. According to the minister, “conflicts, sanctions and pressures will not solve the problem…The process of peace talks should start as soon as possible and the legitimate security concerns of all parties should be respected” .

According to the minister, the conflict in Ukrainewhich began with the Russian invasion on February 24 last year, it is “an explosion of problems caused by Europe’s security governance, it has a complex history and complex reasons”. “Efforts for peace talks have been repeatedly undermined – accused Qin – There seems to be an invisible hand pushing for the prolongation and escalation of the conflict and using the Ukrainian crisis to serve some geopolitical agendas”.

The Chinese foreign minister then warned that “the crisis in Ukraine has reached a critical point: or hostilities cease and peace is restoredand the political settlement process begins, or more fuel is added to the fire and the crisis expands further and spirals out of control“.

In recent days, Beijing presented a 12-point position paper for the crisis in Ukraine, which was received coldly if not rejected by the West: according to critics, it crystallizes Russian conquests and does not ask for Moscow to withdraw from the occupied territories.

Friendship between China and Russia represents “a model for international relations”the minister continued, adding: ‘With China and Russia working together, the world will have a driving force. The more unstable the world becomes, the more imperative it is that China and Russia steadily advance their relationship.’

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Qin speaks of the “close contacts” between the leaderships of the two countries, with the relations between “heads of state” forming the anchor of the relationship: “The strategic partnership … will certainly grow from strength to strength”.