China encourages the warring sides of Russia and Ukraine to maintain communication and cooperation on humanitarian issues, said a Chinese envoy to the United Nations on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting, Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, said that as the Ukraine crisis drags on and the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, ordinary people have paid a hefty price.
The international community should step up its actions and make greater efforts for peace, to prevent further degradation of the humanitarian situation. The parties concerned should strictly abide by international humanitarian law, protect the lawful rights and interests of refugees and the displaced, especially women and children, support the work of international humanitarian agencies, provide convenience for the evacuation of people and cooperate with humanitarian rescue efforts, he said.
Commenting on the recent shelling damage of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, which is now under the control of Russian troops, Geng said the parties concerned need to refrain from taking actions that may endanger nuclear safety and security.
"The safety and security of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant concerns the health and well-being of hundreds of millions of people in Ukraine and the entire region, which brooks no accident. China calls on the relevant parties to earnestly implement the Seven Pillars of nuclear safety and security proposed by International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi and refrain from taking actions that endanger nuclear safety and security," said the envoy.
China encourages Russia and Ukraine to maintain communication and cooperation on humanitarian issues and supports the United Nations and international humanitarian agencies in providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and its neighboring countries according to the principles of neutrality, impartiality and non-politicization, he said.
"China once again calls on the parties concerned to maintain dialogue and contact, explore the possibility of a political settlement and create conditions for an early ceasefire and the restoration of peace and stability. All parties should abandon selfish political interests, stop intensifying the conflict, stop creating divisions and stop advocating confrontation, so as to make concrete efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis," said the Chinese envoy.
