China reacts to Russia's attack on Poltava, calls for negotiations

This is stated in a response from the office of the spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Ukrinform’s enquiry to respond to the brutal Russian attack on an educational facility in Poltava and the killing of more than 50 people there.

"China's position on the Ukraine crisis (this is how China refers to the Russian genocidal war against Ukraine - ed.) is consistent and clear. It is in the interests of all parties to cease fire as soon as possible, cease hostilities, and seek a political solution to the conflict," the response reads.

According to the Chinese side, the primary task at the moment is to cool the situation down, for which it is necessary to prevent the expansion of the front line, avoid the escalation of hostilities, and refrain from steps leading to the intensification of armed confrontation.

"All parties should exercise restraint, avoid actions that could lead to an aggravation of conflict, and create conditions to reach a political settlement of the crisis as soon as possible," the response states.

It should be noted that, since the outset of the full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine, China has declared neutrality, avoiding defining the aggressor and victim, and refraining from condemning both the brutal shelling by the Russian military of residential buildings and civil infrastructure in Ukrainian cities, as well as the successful attacks of Ukraine’s Defense Forces on targets inside Russia, operating in support of the invasion force.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, 53 people were killed and 298 injured in Poltava as a result of a Russian strike targeting an educational facility on September 3.

Foreign politicians and diplomats expressed their condolences over the deadly Russian strikes on Poltava, Kryvyi Rih, Sumy, Lviv, and other cities.

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