November 18, 2024
President,
I thank Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo for her briefing.
The Ukraine crisis has been ongoing for 1000 days. The current situation is at a crossroads and a critical juncture indeed, on the one hand, the fighting on the ground is continuing, the humanitarian crisis is worsening, and the spillover effects are intensifying. Both parties to the conflict are yet to give up their obsession with winning by force and keep launching large-scale attacks against each other, which have been expanding in recent days. On the other hand, the international community, in its consideration of the Ukraine crisis, has increasingly focused on settling through negotiations and pushing for peace. From Asia and Africa to Europe and the Americas, from the south and the north, to the east and the west, the aspiration for peace from people around the globe is getting stronger, and the call for peace is getting louder. The conditions for the international community to promote peace are gradually accumulating.
During the general debate of the General Assembly last September, China and Brazil, together with Algeria and other Global South countries, held a ministerial meeting and initiated the establishment of the Group of Friends for Peace on the Ukraine crisis, jointly calling for compliance with the three principles of no spillover OF the battlefield, no escalation of the fighting, and no provocation by any party, and jointly sending a strong message for an early ceasefire and a political settlement. History has proven time and again that military means will not bring lasting peace and that all conflicts will, in the final analysis, end at the negotiating table. We once again call on the parties to the conflict to demonstrate political will, launch peace talks as soon as possible, meet each other halfway, stop fighting, and achieve a ceasefire. We once again call on the international community to provide support and create conditions to this end and jointly scale up peace efforts to form synergy in promoting peace through negotiations.
President,
China’s position on the question of Ukraine has been consistent, firm, and clear. We have always been on the side of peace and on the side of dialogue. Since the outbreak of the crisis, China has always maintained that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be observed, that the reasonable security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously, and that all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis should be supported. We have been loud and clear in that dialogue and negotiations are the only path towards resolving the Ukraine crisis. We have maintained communication and exchanges with Russia, Ukraine, and other relevant parties, actively carried out shuttle diplomacy, and spared no efforts in promoting peace through negotiations and pushing for a political settlement. In the current context, China stands ready to further strengthen communication with the relevant parties and continue our unremitting efforts and constructive role in promoting the early arrival of the dawn of peace and the early political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
President,
Just now, in her statement, the US Representative once again slandered and smeared China, and shifted the blame to China, which we firmly oppose. At previous meetings, I have responded firmly on many occasions. I will not repeat them today. I just want to briefly point out here that the outbreak and continuation of the crisis in Ukraine has a lot to do with the United States. Whether there can be an early ceasefire and a political settlement in the future will also depend, to a considerable extent, on the attitude and actions of the United States. We hope that the US behavior will stand the judgment of future generations and the test of history.
Thank you, President.
Second Round of Remarks by Ambassador Geng Shuang at the UN Security Council Briefing on Ukraine
President,
I hope, before speaking, my US colleague will first get to understand the current situation. What is the current situation? That is the call for peace is louder than the instigation for war, the call for unity and cooperation is louder than the instigation for division and confrontation. I hope my US colleague will understand that the attempts to deliberately expand the crisis and prolong the war and use the opportunity to suppress other countries and promote geopolitical interests will not succeed.
Thank you, President.