Only through cease-fire and the restoration of peace can the trauma of conflict for women and children be fundamentally avoided, a Chinese envoy said on Monday, warning that constantly providing weapons or imposing sanctions and pressure will only perpetuate and expand the Ukraine conflict.

The conflict has taken a heavy toll on the Ukrainian people and the security risks faced by women and children are particularly worrisome, Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), told a Security Council meeting on sexual violence and human trafficking in the context of the Ukraine conflict on Monday, noting that parties to the conflict should comply with international law and take measures to protect civilians from all forms of violence, including sexual violence and human trafficking against women and children.

Since the outbreak of the conflict, 6.8 million Ukrainian people have crossed borders into neighboring countries for refuge, the vast majority of whom are women and children. China appreciates the humanitarian spirit shown by Ukraine's neighbors in providing safe shelter and basic livelihood for women and children refugees. Meanwhile, the growing number of cases of human trafficking, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse is disturbing, Dai said.

China calls for immediate international cooperation to identify and punish relevant criminal acts. The relevant UN agencies should strengthen monitoring and analysis and provide professional and technical support to combat human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and sexual abuse against Ukrainian refugees, he said.

The international community should not stop at eliminating sexual violence and human trafficking. Only through cease-fire and the restoration of peace can the trauma of conflict for women and children be fundamentally avoided, Dai said, adding that the international community should work together to promote peace talks, and encourage Russia and Ukraine to come back to the negotiation table.

Constantly providing weapons or imposing sanctions and pressure will not solve the problem, but will only perpetuate and expand the conflict, he warned.

People in Ukraine and other developing countries should not pay the price for geopolitical and bloc confrontations and no country can or should seek its own absolute security at the expense of the security of others, he said.

Global Times