China has marked the grim anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a call for a ceasefire.
In a 12-point policy paper issued by its Foreign Ministry on Friday, on the war’s first anniversary, Beijing called on Russia and Ukraine to “avoid attacking civilians or civilian facilities”.
“All parties should support Russia and Ukraine in working in the same direction and resuming direct dialogue as quickly as possible,” the ministry said.
It stressed that “nuclear weapons must not be used and nuclear wars must not be fought”.
The plan came a day after China’s top diplomat visited Moscow and pledged a deeper partnership with Russia.
In New York, the United Nations marked the anniversary by calling for a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace” and again demanding Moscow withdraw its troops and stop fighting.
The resolution was adopted on Thursday (US time) with 141 votes in favour and 32 abstentions, including China.
Six countries joined Russia to vote no – Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua and Syria.
“This resolution is a powerful signal of unflagging global support for Ukraine,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on Twitter after the vote.
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy dismissed the action at the UN as “useless”, posting on Twitter: “Will it bring peace? No! Will it embolden warmongers? Yes! Thus prolonging Ukrainian tragedy.”
Russia had described the resolution as “unbalanced and anti-Russian” and urged countries to vote no if it could not be amended.
Moscow’s ally Belarus failed in a bid to change the text with amendments including “prevention of further escalation of the conflict through feeding the parties with lethal weapons”.
China has sought to position itself as neutral in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, while maintaining its ties with Moscow.
On Wednesday, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi met Russian president Vladimir Putin and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
After the visit, Moscow said Beijing had presented its views on approaches to a “political settlement” of the conflict.
Mr Zelensky said Thursday he had not seen any Chinese peace plan and wanted to meet with Beijing before assessing it.
“I think it is a very good fact in general that China started talking about Ukraine and sent some signals,” he said.
“We’ll draw some conclusions after we see the specifics of what they offer… We would like to have a meeting with China.”
Tweet from @KyivIndependent
Earlier this week, after Mr Wang previewed China’s likely plan, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that “a just peace cannot mean that the aggressor gets rewarded”.
The US and NATO have in the past week accused China of considering supplying arms to Russia and warned Beijing against such a move.
“One year into the Ukraine crisis brutal facts offer ample proof that sending weapons will not bring peace,” China’s deputy UN ambassador Dai Bing said ahead of the vote.
“Adding fuel to the fire will only exacerbate tensions.”
German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Friday (AEDT) that Russia was in talks with a Chinese manufacturer about buying 100 drones, although it did not offer specific sources for the claim.
Beijing says the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected, but – in a nod to Russia’s unease about NATO – believes all security concerns should be addressed.
China did vote against two resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly last year that took specific action – suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council and recognising Russia must be responsible for making reparations to Ukraine.
China attempts “to maintain this veneer of neutrality, professing to the world that they’re not taking a side – but they’ve clearly chosen a side”, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday.
The General Assembly has been the focus for UN action on Ukraine, with the 15-member Security Council paralysed due to veto power by Russia and the US along with China, France and Britain.
The Security Council has held dozens of meetings on Ukraine in the past year and will again discuss the war on Friday at a ministerial gathering, due to be attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Diplomats said Mr Lavrov was not scheduled to attend.
-with AAP
