China stated it respects sovereignty of all countries

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told senior European officials that China respects the sovereignty of all countries, including Ukraine's, but that Russia's worries about NATO's eastward expansion should be addressed correctly.

Following weeks of warnings from Western leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine from the north, east, and south on Thursday, the worst attack on a European state since WWII.

China and Russia forged a strategic cooperation weeks before the invasion, and Beijing has so far refrained from criticising Moscow's actions.

Wang expressed Beijing's displeasure with the current situation in Ukraine, saying that direct talks between Russia and Ukraine should take place as soon as possible.

"China firmly advocates respecting and safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries," Wang said, according to a statement from China's Foreign Ministry. "This equally applies to the Ukraine issue."

Wang spoke with the British Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, and a French presidential aide on separate talks.

"Given five consecutive rounds of NATO's eastward expansion, Russia's legitimate security demands should be taken seriously and properly addressed."
On Friday, the United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote on a resolution denouncing Moscow's incursion.

Russia is anticipated to veto the legislation, and China has previously vetoed Council measures that impose sanctions or deploy force, according to Wang. "Not fueling" tensions, he said, should be the Council's goal.

President Joe Biden said on Thursday that any country that backed Russia's aggression in Ukraine would be "stained by association," and Washington has warned Chinese companies that assisting Moscow in evading export limits imposed by Western countries will suffer consequences.

On Friday, Russia vetoed a draught UN Security Council resolution condemning Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, while China abstained, a move seen as a triumph by Western countries for demonstrating Russia's worldwide isolation.

The United Arab Emirates and India also voted no on the text produced by the United States. The remaining 11 members of the council voted in favour. The UN General Assembly, which has 193 members, is now likely to take up the proposed resolution.

Also read: UNSC resolution condemning Russia 3 countries abstained