China has sent a message to Russia, the US, UK and Ukraine as fears of World War 3 grow.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Friday that “all parties” need to show restraint to avoid further escalation.
He said: “Under the current circumstances, all parties should remain calm and restrained, work to cool the situation through dialogue and consultations, and create conditions for a political settlement of the crisis [as China refers to Russia‘s war of aggression against Ukraine], in order to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the US, made similar remarks in an interview with Newsweek.
He said: “Realising an early ceasefire and striving for political settlement serves the interests of all sides.
“It is important not to fuel the tension. China always encourages and supports all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis and stands ready to continue to play a constructive role in its own way for the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”
China’s intervention comes after the US and UK permitted Ukraine to strike Russian territory with their missile systems.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered Moscow’s nuclear threshold in response, and he also fired a medium-range ballistic missile in Ukraine.
He warned on Friday that Russia has new missiles “ready to be used” against Ukraine.
Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, told Reuters: “Putin is saying to the West stop – halt – back off.
“The signal Putin is sending to the world is that we consider these strikes as the direct entry of the United States and Britain into a war against Russia.
“But we are not responding with all our might right now because these strikes against Russia will not change the outcome of the war.”
