On March 14, 2022 local time, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi met with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Rome, Italy, and expounded China’s position on the Ukraine situation.

Yang Jiechi pointed out that China does not want to see the situation in Ukraine to become what it is today. The Chinese side always maintains that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be observed. China is committed to facilitating dialogue for peace, and believes that the international community should jointly support the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine for early substantive outcomes, so as to deescalate the situation as soon as possible. All parties should exercise maximum restraint, protect civilians and prevent a massive humanitarian crisis. China has provided emergency humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and will continue to make its efforts to that end.

Yang Jiechi said that it is important to straighten out the history of the Ukraine issue, address the problem at the root, and respond to the legitimate concerns of all parties. He also stressed the need to take a long-term perspective, actively follow the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and encourage the parties concerned to engage in equal-footed dialogue and seek to put in place a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture in line with the principle of indivisibility of security, so as to safeguard peace in Europe and the world at large.

Yang Jiechi stressed that China firmly opposes any words and deeds that spread disinformation and distort and smear China’s position.