Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) and US Secretary of State Blinken.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday the Ukraine crisis can only be solved through dialogue and negotiations and stressed that China supports all efforts that help ease tensions and push for political solution, and opposes all actions that are not conducive to diplomatic resolution but add fuel to the fire. 

He made the comments during a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday. This marks the two officials' second phone conversation within two weeks. It also happened after Russia declared a partial ceasefire on Saturday to allow humanitarian corridors out of the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha, according to Russia's defense ministry.

Blinken briefed Wang about the US stance on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Wang said that China had not wanted to see the Ukraine crisis escalate to the current situation. 

The Ukraine issue is compplex, which involves the basic principles of international relations, and was closely related to the interests of all parties, said Wang, noting that as a permanent member of UN Security Council, China decides its own position and policy based on the merits of the matter itself. 

 China believes that the Ukraine crisis should be resolved in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, Wang pointed out, noting that  the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected and safeguarded and disputes must be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means. 

China hopes crossfire can be stopped as soon as possible and the situation on the ground can be eased so as to prevent large scale humanitarian crisis, Wang said. 

The Ukraine crisis can only eventually be solved  through dialogue and negotiations. China would support all efforts that help in easing the situation and reaching a political solution, said Wang.

China would oppose any action that doesn't avail a diplomatic solution but would instead stoke an escalation to the situation. China will continue to speak and strive for peace. We encourage direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, Wang said. 

The foreign minister also said that although as things stand negotiations may not proceed smoothly, international society should still cooperate and support bilateral talks until their negotiations come to fruition, and peace is agreed upon.  

We also encourage the US, NATO and the EU to hold fair talks with Russia and face up to contradictions and problems that have been piled up for a number of years, putting an emphasis on the negative impact on Russia's security environment of the NATO's continued expansion eastward. It's hoped that the creation of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism will be pursued based on the principle of inseparable security, Wang said. 

As for China-US relations, Wang noted that the most important thing for bilateral relations is to push to implement and realize the consensus reached by video conference between two leaders. He said that China is deeply concerned as some speeches and actions from the US side have gone against the goal.

Taiwan is an indispensable part of China, and the Taiwan question is part of China's domestic affairs, the US should stop supporting "Taiwan secessionism" and interfering with China's domestic affairs, and maintain the bilateral relationship with actual actions, said Wang.

The two sides also exchanged their views on the situation in the Korean Peninsula.