Ukraine no arena for combat, says envoy

A Chinese United Nations envoy says Ukraine is not an arena for combat between powerful countries, and no one should seek to benefit from the conflict at the cost of the Ukrainian people.

"We call on Russia and Ukraine to resume negotiations without any preconditions," Dai Bing, charge d'affaires at the Chinese Permanent Mission to the UN, said at a UN Security Council briefing on Ukraine.

The Security Council met to discuss Ukraine on Friday, the first anniversary of the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The meeting was attended by about 30 foreign ministers and diplomats.

"Conflicts have no winners," Dai said.

Bringing parties to the conflict back to the negotiating table would not be easy but is "the first step toward a political solution", Dai said.

The Ukraine conflict has far-reaching impacts, he said, but "developing countries are not parties to this conflict and should not pay an excessively high price for it".

Some parties have resorted to unilateral sanctions and maximum pressure that "cannot solve any issue, and can only undermine the stability of the global industrial and supply chains and exacerbate the global food, energy, and financial crises", Dai said.

"One country, while stressing sovereignty and territorial integrity on the Ukraine issue, is blatantly interfering in other countries' internal affairs and undermining their sovereignty and territorial integrity."

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also attended the Security Council meeting and called for preventing further escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and giving peace a chance.

The Security Council has debated Ukraine more than 40 times over the past year, and "the guns are talking now", Guterres said. "But in the end, we all know that the path of diplomacy and accountability is the road to a just and sustainable peace."