China's ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday reiterated that the country remains committed to promoting peace through negotiation and called on the UN and all concerned parties to help ease the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

China is deeply worried about the worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine and saddened by the reported increase in civilian casualties and refugees, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, told a Security Council briefing on the refugee issue of Ukraine.

"The pressing task now is to call for maximum restraint from all parties and to ensure safety and security of all civilians, including women and children, and meet their basic humanitarian needs, so as to prevent the occurrence of a larger scale humanitarian crisis," Zhang said.

"China supports the work by the relevant parties in maintaining communication, ensuring safe and unimpeded humanitarian corridors and further facilitating personnel evacuation and humanitarian assistance," he continued.

Zhang stressed that the number of refugees and displaced persons caused by the conflict is still on the rise, "bringing huge impact on Ukraine and the surrounding countries".

China supports the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Health Organization (WHO), among others, in actively conducting operations and mobilizing the international community to assist all those in need, he said.

Zhang noticed that in the recent past, some people of African or Middle East descent encountered difficulties during evacuation.

"This should be taken seriously and addressed properly. All refugees, regardless of color, race or religion, shall be accorded the necessary protection under international refugee law," the envoy emphasized.

Zhang reiterated that China pays high attention to the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and has put forward a six-point proposal.

He said that the Red Cross Society of China has provided Ukraine with three batches of humanitarian supplies, with the third one containing milk powder and quilts for children, specifically helping the Red Cross Society of Ukraine assist displaced children affected by the conflict.

"We welcome any initiative or measure from any party that contributes to alleviating and resolving the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine," he said.

The ambassador stressed that the Security Council bears the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security and should therefore "play a positive role in easing the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. China hopes that the council can stay united on the humanitarian issue and demonstrate a constructive attitude."

The international community shares the common wish for cease-fire at an early date to alleviate the situation on the ground and prevent civilian casualties, he said.

"This is also the expectation of China," Zhang said.

He pointed out that to date, Russia and Ukraine have held four rounds of negotiations.

"Keeping the negotiations going means there is a chance for cease-fire, and that there is a chance for a peaceful future. China remains committed to promoting peace through negotiations," said Zhang.

"We support the UN and the parties concerned in vigorously carrying out good offices. We also hope that all parties will do more to facilitate peace talks and not add fuel to fire. Facts have proven that wanton use of sanctions will not solve any problem, but will instead create new problems," he said.

"Given the sluggish recovery in the global economy, ever-escalating sanctions are undermining the stability of the international industrial chain and supply chain, thus exacerbating food and energy crises, damaging people's livelihood in all countries, developing countries in particular, and triggering new humanitarian consequences," Zhang said.

"This is also an issue that the Security Council shall pay attention to when addressing the humanitarian issue of Ukraine," he said.

KYIV - Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said on Thursday it would take between a few days and a week and a half for Ukraine and Russia to reach a peace agreement, the Ukrainian online media outlet Liga.net reported.

Kyiv wants to fix in detail a specific plan for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine in the peace deal, said Podolyak, who is also a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the peace talks with Russia.

If the agreement is inked, it would allow Ukraine and Russia to end the acute phase of the conflict, he added.

On Wednesday, Podolyak said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may hold talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the coming days.

BEIJING - The key to solving the Ukraine crisis is in the hands of the United States and NATO, and China hopes that the United States can truly stand on the side of peace and justice with most developing countries in the world, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a news conference that China has been promoting peace talks and making efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully, and will continue to play a constructive role on the issue.

He stressed that the initiators of the Ukraine crisis should carefully reflect on their role in it, earnestly assume their due responsibilities, and take practical steps to ease the situation and solve the problem, rather than blame others.

The US government's decision on NATO's eastward expansion is directly linked to the current crisis in Ukraine, Zhao said, adding that the key to resolving the Ukraine crisis lies in the hands of the United States and NATO, and China hopes that the United States can truly stand on the side of peace and justice with most developing countries in the world to ease the situation in Ukraine.

He said China's position on the Ukraine issue is fair and objective, and the countries that should really "feel uncomfortable" are those that think they have won the Cold War and can dominate the world, ignore the concerns of other countries and continue to advance NATO's enlargement through five rounds of eastward expansion.

BERLIN - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday called on Germany to take a leadership role in providing more support for his country.

While addressing the German parliament via video, Zelensky called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to provide more support.

Disappointed by its failure to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Zelensky said Ukraine is still seeking access to the European Union.

At a press conference in March, Scholz made clear that Germany and NATO will not play an active role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, adding that his government would use all diplomatic means for "a joint way out of this crisis".

BEIJING -- The sharp difference in Western media coverage of the Ukraine situation and other conflicts has laid bare their deep-rooted racist bias and double standards.

Their emphasis on the Ukrainians' race and disregard for tragedies in other parts of the world have drawn criticism particularly from the Middle East.

RACIST BIAS

In their reports, numerous Western journalists have focused on the look, skin color, race and religion of Ukranian evacuees, and made a comparison between them and refugees from the Middle East and North Africa. The unspoken implication is that the former are superior to the latter and have less reason to suffer from any plight.

"To put it bluntly, these are not refugees from Syria, these are refugees from Ukraine ... They're Christian, they're white, they're very similar (to us)," said Kelly Cobiella, an NBC News correspondent based in London, on video.

On BFM TV, France's most-watched cable news channel, journalist Phillipe Corbe said: "We're not talking here about Syrians ... We're talking about Europeans leaving in cars that look like ours to save their lives."

Since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, remarks of a racist nature have been circulating on Western media, irritating people from around the world, especially those who have fled their homes due to color revolutions or wars waged by the West.

Mohammed al-Jubouri, a professor of the media college at Al-Iraqia University in Baghdad, said that the West has been playing dumb over the refugee issues of Iraq, Syria and Yemen, as well as Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, as if people in those places were inherently inferior and unworthy of respect.

RACE SUPERIORITY

The reason why a military conflict is taking place on a so-called "civilized" continent has shocked most Western journalists and partly lies in the penetration of West-centrism across their industry, but the theory is plainly grounded upon race superiority.

When reporting from Kyiv in late February, Charlie D'Agata, a senior foreign correspondent with CBS News, said: "This isn't a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen conflict raging for decades," but "a relatively civilized, relatively European" city.

"They seem so like us. That is what makes it so shocking," wrote Daniel Hannan in Britain's The Telegraph. "War is no longer something visited upon impoverished and remote populations. It can happen to anyone."

"We are in the 21st century, we are in a European city and we have cruise missiles fired as if we were in Iraq or Afghanistan, can you imagine," a commentator said on BFM TV.

The truth is apparent how Western governments and Western media view the conflict in Ukraine, a country they have abandoned, in comparison to the wars they waged in particular against West Asian countries, said a recent opinion article published in Iran's Tehran Times.

"The idea that a conflict inside 'civilized' Europe is so alarming because wars only happen in countries that are 'uncivilized' is such disturbing double standards and hypocritical analyses," it said. "All the wars outside Europe, the vast majority of which in West Asia and Africa, occurred as a result of Western imperialism, plots and military adventurism."

Speaking of the racist reports, Amiya Mohan, a veteran Indian journalist and analyst, regards race supremacy as "the root cause," saying many Western media outlets "are unable to hide their bias," which is "really sad and disappointing."

Earlier this month, the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association based in New York issued a statement on relevant reporting, condemning the "racist implications that any population or country is 'uncivilized' or bears economic factors that make it worthy of conflict."

"This type of commentary reflects the pervasive mentality in Western journalism of normalizing tragedy in parts of the world such as the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, and Latin America," it continued.

Calling those racist reports "abhorrent," Cavince Adhere, a Kenyan international relations scholar, noted that many African countries have been subject to the West's stereotypical and negative reporting, which only made local people "tired and weary of misreporting, disinformation and stereotype journalism from some Western media outlets."

MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday stressed the importance of establishing a verification mechanism as US-funded biological laboratories in Ukraine have caused concern.

The issue of US-funded biological laboratories in Ukraine must be addressed within the framework of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, Lavrov said during a briefing.

Moscow plans to redouble its efforts to ensure that the United States stops blocking Russia's proposal made 20 years ago on the creation of a verification mechanism under the convention on biological agents that could be used to make bioweapons, he said.

In addition to over 30 biolabs in Ukraine, the United States has created "hundreds of such laboratories" in other countries, he noted.

"I believe that the international community will soon be convinced that such inadmissible activities are fraught with deadly risks for a huge number of people," Lavrov said.

On March 8, while testifying before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Ukraine, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland admitted "Ukraine has biological research facilities."

At a UN Security Council meeting called by Russia to discuss the United States' alleged military biological research in Ukraine on Saturday, US permanent representative to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said, "Ukraine does not have a biological weapons program. There are no Ukrainian biological weapons laboratories supported by the United States."

MOSCOW/KYIV - Following a new round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that Moscow is prepared to continue high-level trilateral negotiations with Ukraine mediated by Turkey.

"If such initiatives appear, we would only be happy to continue communicating in this format," Lavrov said at a press conference following his talks with Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Moscow.

He explained that Moscow would only be interested in talks with Ukraine if these would lead to concrete results and solve existing problems.

According to Cavusoglu, Turkey is ready to host a potential meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine.

Lavrov met with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Turkey's southern province of Antalya last week on the sidelines of an international forum.

This was the first high-level meeting between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb 24.

Earlier Wednesday, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said Russia and Ukraine have achieved some progress on a number of issues during the new round of talks.

"Some progress has been achieved on a number of positions, but not all. The positions of the parties are quite clear, we are moving slowly," local media reported, citing Medinsky, who is also the head of Moscow's delegation.

"The preservation and development of Ukraine's neutral status, Ukraine's demilitarization along with a whole range of issues related to the size of the Ukrainian army are being discussed," Medinsky said, adding that the Ukrainian side had proposed a Swedish or Austrian example of a neutral demilitarized state.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues on Thursday as relevant parties are working to broker a peaceful solution.

For South Africa's Deputy President David Mabuza, diplomacy remains "the key tool" to end the Ukraine-Russia conflict and no amount of condemnation and side taking will resolve this problem.

South Africa continues to call for the parties to work together towards building trust and confidence by "intensifying existing peace mechanisms and dialogue" in order to achieve long-lasting solutions to the conflict, he said.

Qin Gang, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, said in an opinion piece published Tuesday in The Washington Post that China did not know in advance about Russia's plan for a military operation against Ukraine, nor did Beijing support it.

"On Ukraine, China's position is objective and impartial," the ambassador said. "The purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be fully observed; the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, including Ukraine, must be respected; the legitimate security concerns of all countries must be taken seriously; and all efforts that are conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis must be supported."

In another development, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday in Brussels that the organization is working on resetting its deterrence and defense in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"We face a new reality for our security. So we must reset our collective defense and deterrence for the longer term," said Stoltenberg following the extraordinary meeting of NATO ministers of defense, of which defense ministers from Ukraine, Georgia, Finland and Sweden also participated.

The NATO's military commanders have been tasked with developing options on land, in air, at sea, in the cyber space, and in space, according to Stoltenberg.

The process for the reset started with a political decision, which is now followed by a consultation of the military commanders, who should issue their advice within weeks, said Stoltenberg, adding that leaders of NATO member states will make a decision by June.

US President Joe Biden referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "war criminal" on Wednesday, prompting a rebuke from the Kremlin.

"We believe such rhetoric to be unacceptable and unforgivable on the part of the head of a state, whose bombs have killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world," said Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to news agencies TASS and Ria Novosti.

Biden made the remark to reporters while he was explaining that the United States was offering an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine to fight Russia, with the new package including drones and anti-armor systems. The US has pledged a total of $13.6 billion in overall aid to Ukraine.

He was asked at the White House by a reporter if he considered Russia's president a war criminal. Initially, Biden responded, "No," but then he asked the journalist to clarify the question and said: "Oh, I think he is a war criminal."

The remark followed the US Senate unanimously passing a resolution Tuesday calling Putin a war criminal.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who has been sanctioned by Russia, said Wednesday that there was a separate legal process run by the State Department to determine war crimes and that was ongoing separately.

The Geneva Conventions ratified by the United Nations define war crimes as willful killing; torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments; willfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health; extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power; willfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial; unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement, and taking of hostages.

Biden also accused the Russian military of bombing hospitals and apartment buildings, which Moscow has denied.

Putin stressed that Russian forces "are working with modern high-precision weapons", hitting only military targets.

On Wednesday, Putin said he was prepared to discuss neutral status for Ukraine but that the special military operation to "demilitarize and denazify" the country was "going to plan", justified by the need to uphold Russian security.

Putin also gave a televised speech in which he accused the West of trying to divide Russia with lies and criticized "traitors" inside Russia, the BBC reported.

"Of course they will try to bet on the so-called fifth column, on traitors — on those who earn their money here but live over there. Live, not in the geographical sense, but in the sense of their thoughts, their slavish thinking," Putin said.

"Any people, and especially the Russian people, will always be able to distinguish the true patriots from the scum and the traitors, and just to spit them out like a fly that accidentally flew into their mouths," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said negotiations with Russia were becoming "more realistic", and Russia's foreign minister said proposals under discussion were "close to an agreement".

In a speech to the US Congress by video on Wednesday, Zelensky appealed for tougher sanctions on Russia and more weapons to help his country, repeating a request for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, something the West fears would worsen the conflict.

Zelensky last month sent separate letters to Meta Platforms (parent of Facebook and Instagram) CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, asking them to block Russia's media outlets from posting on Facebook in Ukraine, according to a Bloomberg report. He also asked that they cut off Facebook and Instagram in Russia itself. Neither Zuckerberg nor Sandberg responded.

Meta also clarified Monday that users cannot make posts calling for the assassination of Putin or other heads of state. The Silicon Valley social media company also said that a previously reported temporary easing of its hate-speech policy applies only to posts by users in Ukraine making threats to occupying forces and "only in the context of speech regarding the Russian military invasion of Ukraine".

Russia on Friday opened a criminal case against Meta over the policy.

"A criminal case has been initiated ... in connection with illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation by employees of the American company Meta, which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram," Russia's Investigative Committee said.

Reuters contributed to this story.

KYIV - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may hold talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the coming days, the Ukrainian government-run Ukrinform news agency reported on Wednesday, citing Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak.

"Obviously, the only way to end this war is direct talks between the two presidents, and this is what we are working on in the current talks," Podolyak, also a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the peace talks with Russia, was quoted as saying.

Work is underway to prepare the documents that could be signed during the meeting of the two leaders, the official said.

The Ukrainian side has high hopes that ceasefire will be achieved in the near future, he added.

The fourth round of negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian delegations started on Monday via video link and continued into Wednesday.

KYIV - Ukraine has integrated its electricity transmission network into the European energy system, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday.

"Ukraine has become a member of the European Energy Union. The unification of Ukrainian and European energy systems has been completed," Zelensky tweeted.

Ukraine, which was importing electricity from Russia and Belarus, last year set a target to integrate its energy system into the European network of electricity transmission system operators by 2023.

According to media reports, 15 nuclear units at four Ukrainian nuclear power plants generate about 55 percent of Ukraine's electricity needs. Thermal power plants produce 29 percent of Ukraine's electricity, while the rest is powered by other sources or imported from abroad.

Negotiations are the only way for solving the Ukraine crisis, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Wednesday, calling on the United States to "stand on the side of peace and justice" to ease the situation in Ukraine.

Commenting on remarks made by US Department of State spokesman Ned Price on Monday that Russia is "violating … what have been the cardinal rules of the international order… that big countries cannot bully small countries", Zhao said the US itself has violated such rules.

What the US did to Cuba, Panama, Grenada, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria from the 1960s to the 2010s are "textbook examples of big countries bullying small ones", Zhao said.

The solution to the Ukraine crisis does not lie in making unilateral decisions according to one's own standards about what a rules-based international order is, let alone force countries to take sides and create the chilling effect of labeling countries as friend or foe.

"The world wants peace instead of war, justice instead of overbearingness, and cooperation instead of confrontation," Zhao said.

"This is what most countries want. There is only one system in the world, which is the international system with the United Nations at the center. There is only one order, which is the international order based on international law.

"There is only one set of rules, which is the basic rules of an international order based on the UN Charter's purpose and principles."

In another development, Zhao urged the US to stop opposing the establishment of a special verification mechanism on biological weapons to restore the world's confidence in its willingness to implement international duties and help improve global biological security.

More efforts

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there are "almost 30" US military biological laboratories "just in Ukraine alone", and Russia will "double and triple" its efforts to end the US blocking of the establishment of the verification mechanism under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, reported TASS on Tuesday.

The US has an obligation to obey the convention and clarify the concerns of the international community, Zhao said.

The world has long been concerned about the biological military activities that the US conducts at home and abroad, an issue that has already existed before the Ukraine crisis broke out, Zhao said.

"We welcome the international community to jointly review Russia's revelation under the framework of the convention and the UN, and to listen to the US clarifications fairly and justly," Zhao said.

The international community can take this as an opportunity to restart the negotiation process for the establishment of a verification mechanism, he added.

Travel bans, asset freezes apply as Moscow hits back at Russophobia

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday announced sanctions against 13 US individuals including President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

"This step, taken as a response measure, is the inevitable result of the extreme Russophobic policy of the current US administration, which, in a desperate attempt to maintain American hegemony, has abandoned any sense of decorum and placed its bets on the head-on containment of Russia," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"However, we do not oppose maintaining official ties when it is in our national interests, and, if necessary, we will address the issues arising from the status of the black-listed individuals in order to organize high-level contacts."

Also sanctioned are Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The move prevents those named from entering Russia and freezes any assets they have there, according to the BBC. Moscow called the restrictions "personal sanctions "and a "stop list" based on "the principle of reciprocity".

Russia also announced similar measures against 313 Canadians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and several of his ministers.

Russia sees no sign that the United States is interested in resolving the conflict in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday. The United States has a decisive role in defining the position of the Ukrainian authorities, but "today, we see no interest from the United States to speedily resolve this conflict", Lavrov told the RBC television channel.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a virtual address on Wednesday to US members of Congress. Zelensky appeared via video and was introduced by House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi after she gaveled in the session.

Zelensky cited Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks in an appeal to US lawmakers for help against Russia. "We need you right now," he said.

Explosions reported

Several explosions rocked Kyiv early on Wednesday, and local emergency services reported two residential buildings were damaged.

The blasts happened as Kyiv was under a curfew that began late on Tuesday, due to what its mayor called a "difficult and dangerous moment".

At least three loud explosions were heard just after dawn in the western part of the city, and thick clouds of smoke billowed into the sky.

"Two residential buildings were damaged in an overnight bombardment in the central part of Kyiv, Shevchenkivskyi district. Two people reported wounded, 35 evacuated," the Ukrainian state emergency service said.

A neighboring 9-story building was also damaged in the attack, the statement added.

In broader diplomatic moves, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu flew to Russia and held talks with Russian officials on Wednesday as Ankara seeks to facilitate cease-fire talks between the two sides.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Cavusoglu "will continue our efforts to achieve a ceasefire and peace through talks with both sides".

The moves by Turkey are among the international efforts in recent days aimed at bringing the parties to a cease-fire. On Tuesday, three leaders from Eastern European nations met Ukraine's Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday.

He hosted the Polish, Czech and Slovenian prime ministers in the first visit to the city by foreign leaders since Russia began its special military operation.

"We have to halt this tragedy… as quickly as possible," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Facebook announcing his arrival, along with Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic and Slovenia's Janez Jansa.

Zelensky said his country should accept it would not become a member of NATO. But he insisted that security guarantees from NATO allies would be necessary to keep Ukraine safe.

Agencies contributed to this story.

BEIJING -- A temporary flight carrying Chinese citizens evacuated from Ukraine arrived in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province, on Wednesday afternoon.

Prior to this, 14 temporary flights taking Chinese nationals back from Ukraine have returned to China safely.

The assertions that "China knew about, acquiesced to or tacitly supported" Russia's military operation in Ukraine "are purely disinformation", Qin Gang, the Chinese ambassador to the US wrote in an op-ed published Tuesday.

In the piece in The Washington Post, he dispelled talk of a comparison between the situation in Ukraine and Taiwan, calling them "totally different things".

In the article titled "Where We Stand in Ukraine," Qin said that he was writing to "explain fully and dispel any misunderstandings and rumors".

He denied claims that China had prior knowledge of Russia's military action and that it had demanded Russia delay it until the Beijing Winter Olympics had concluded. Qin also denied that Russia was seeking military assistance from China.

"Let me say this responsibly: Assertions that China knew about, acquiesced to or tacitly supported this war are purely disinformation. All these claims serve only the purpose of shifting blame to and slinging mud at China," wrote Qin.

"There were more than 6,000 Chinese citizens in Ukraine. China is the biggest trading partner of both Russia and Ukraine, and the largest importer of crude oil and natural gas in the world. Conflict between Russia and Ukraine does no good for China. Had China known about the imminent crisis, we would have tried our best to prevent it."

The ambassador reiterated the positions emphasized by other senior Chinese officials: China is committed to an independent foreign policy of peace, and as a "staunch champion of justice", China decides its position on the merits of the issue.

He also reiterated China's "objective and impartial" position on Ukraine. "The purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be fully observed; the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, including Ukraine, must be respected; the legitimate security concerns of all countries must be taken seriously; and all efforts that are conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis must be supported," the ambassador wrote.

"Given this, threats against Chinese entities and businesses, as uttered by some US officials, are unacceptable. Neither war nor sanctions can deliver peace. Wielding the baton of sanctions at Chinese companies while seeking China's support and cooperation simply won't work," said Qin.

Qin mentioned specifically that some people are linking Taiwan and Ukraine to play up the risk of a conflict in the Taiwan Straits, referring to the analogy as "a mistake".

"These are totally different things. Ukraine is a sovereign state, while Taiwan is an inseparable part of China's territory. The Taiwan question is a Chinese internal affair. It does not make sense for people to emphasize the principle of sovereignty on Ukraine while hurting China's sovereignty and territorial integrity on Taiwan," said Qin. "The future of Taiwan lies in peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and the reunification of China."

The ambassador stressed that China is committed to peaceful reunification and retains all options to curb "Taiwan independence". He expressed the hope that the United States earnestly abide by the one-China principle and not support "Taiwan independence" separatism in any form.

"To ensure long-term peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, China and the United States must work together to contain 'Taiwan independence," Qin wrote.

Qin enumerated the efforts of China to push for peace talks and the prevention of a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, including President Xi Jinping's phone call with President Vladimir Putin on the second day of the conflict expressing China's desire to see Russia and Ukraine hold peace talks as early as possible; Xi's virtual meeting with leaders of France and Germany emphasizing the need to jointly support peace talks between Russia and Ukraine; the Rome meeting between Yang Jiechi, the director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs of China, and Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser of US in Rome; and the close communication State Councilor Wang Yi has maintained with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other foreign ministers.

Qin also mentioned that China outlined a six-point initiative to address the Ukraine crisis and suggested that humanitarian operations abide by the principles of neutrality and impartiality. He also wrote that the first tranche of emergency humanitarian supplies provided by the Red Cross Society of China to its Ukrainian counterpart had been shipped from Beijing.

Qin cited a Chinese proverb, "It takes more than one cold day to freeze three feet of ice." He said the long-term peace and stability of Europe rely on the principle of indivisible security, and there must be a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture.

"The priority now is to achieve a cease-fire to protect civilians from war, "said Qin. "But as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a responsible major country, China will continue to coordinate real efforts to achieve lasting peace. We stand ready to do whatever we can and work with other parties.

"Our ultimate purpose is the end of war and support regional and global stability," Qin concluded.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday announced sanctions against 13 Americans including President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

"This step, taken as a response measure, is the inevitable result of the extreme Russophobic policy of the current US Administration, which, in a desperate attempt to maintain American hegemony, has abandoned any sense of decorum and placed its bets on the head-on containment of Russia," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"However, we do not oppose maintaining official ties when it is in our national interests, and, if necessary, we will address the issues arising from the status of the black-listed individuals in order to organise high-level contacts."

Also sanctioned are Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Others on the list include National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, White House press secretary Jen Psaki and US Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power, a former US ambassador to the United Nations.

The move prevents those named from entering Russia and freezes any assets they have there, according to the BBC. Moscow called the restrictions "personal sanctions" and a "stop list" based on "the principle of reciprocity".

Russia also announced similar measures against 313 Canadians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and several of his ministers.

"Every Russophobic attack, be it attacks on Russian diplomatic missions, airspace closures, or Ottawa's actual severing of bilateral economic ties to the detriment of Canadian interests, will inevitably receive a decisive and not necessarily symmetrical rebuff," the Russian ministry said.

A spokesperson for Trudeau, in a statement to Newsweek on Tuesday, said that "the only response from Russia that we're interested in is an immediate end to this illegal, unnecessary war in Ukraine".

"Until then, Canada and our allies will continue imposing crippling sanctions on Putin and his enablers in Russia and Belarus. The people of Ukraine, and President Zelensky, continue to have our unwavering support," the statement said.

The Russian action was met with derision by some on the list in the US.

"I'd first note that President Biden is a 'junior', so they may have sanctioned his dad, may he rest in peace," Psaki said. "None of us are planning tourist trips to Russia and none of us have bank accounts we won't be able to access, so we will forge ahead."

Hillary Clinton tweeted: "I want to thank the Russian Academy for this Lifetime Achievement Award."

The Foreign Ministry also warned that additional sanctions would follow against other Americans.

"More announcements will be made soon concerning the expansion of the sanctions list to include other top US officials, military leaders, lawmakers, business executives, experts and media personalities who promote Russophobia or contribute to inciting hatred of Russia or imposing restrictive measures," the statement said.

"These actions will be taken in harmony with the major decisions of the Government of the Russian Federation in finance, banking and other areas to protect the Russian economy and ensure its stable development."

Meanwhile, President Biden will travel to Europe for a March 24 meeting of NATO leaders at the military alliance's headquarters in Brussels to discuss the situation in Ukraine, Psaki told reporters Tuesday.

"We will address Russia's invasion of Ukraine, our strong support for Ukraine, and further strengthening NATO's deterrence & defence," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.

Reuters contributed to this story.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it was too soon to draw any conclusions from talks to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, as fighting intensified around the capital Kyiv.

"The work is complex, but the very fact that the work is continuing is in itself positive," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We don't want to give any forecasts. Let's wait for tangible results."

Peskov was commenting hours before the latest round of talks on Tuesday. Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv have met for four rounds of talks to find a diplomatic resolution to the nearly three weeks of fighting between Russia's army and Ukraine.

Both sides earlier raised hopes that a document might be signed at meetings held by videoconference on Monday, before both sides announced a "technical pause".

Peskov said on Tuesday that it was "too early" to discuss the format of any document that could be adopted as a result of negotiations, saying this was part of discussions between negotiators. Both sides indicated over the weekend that they were making headway.

In Kyiv, the city announced a 35-hour curfew from Tuesday evening after a flash shelling from Russian troops. Moscow warned Western governments that they should be responsible for the deaths of their own citizens who were encouraged to enlist in Ukraine.

Shortly before dawn on Tuesday, large explosions thundered across Kyiv as Russia pressed its advance on multiple fronts.

A strike on a 16-story housing block in the Ukrainian capital has killed at least two people, local emergency services said.

"The bodies of two people were recovered, 27 people were rescued," wrote Ukraine's emergency services on a Facebook post, adding that the building was located in the Sviatoshynsky district in western Kyiv.

Explosions heard

Several loud explosions were also heard in central Kyiv early on Tuesday morning.

Peskov said Russia's special military operation in Ukraine is proceeding in accordance with the original plan and "will be completed on time and in full".

Elsewhere, a convoy of 160 civilian cars left the encircled port city of Mariupol along a designated humanitarian route, said the city council, in a rare glimmer of hope a week and a half into the lethal siege that has pulverized homes and other buildings.

Vitaliy Kim, governor of Ukraine's southern Mykolayiv region, said the security situation is calmer in the area because Russian forces had been pushed back slightly from the regional capital, which they have been trying to seize.

The United States Department of State announced on Tuesday a new set of sanctions against 11 Russian defense officials, including the head of the Russian National Guard and several deputy defense ministers.

US President Joe Biden is expected to travel to Brussels next week to meet with NATO leaders. Reuters quoted one source as saying that Biden could also travel to Poland, where concerns are running high after a Russian attack on a large Ukrainian base just kilometers from the border that killed 35 people.

The European Union also approved sanctions late on Monday "targeting individuals and entities involved in the aggression against Ukraine, as well as several sectors of the Russian economy".

Agencies contributed to this story.

KIEV - Ukraine and Russia will continue their peace talks on Wednesday, Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak, also a member of the delegation, said Tuesday.

"We'll continue tomorrow. A very difficult and viscous negotiation process. There are fundamental contradictions. But there is certainly room for compromise," Podolyak tweeted.

The work in subgroups will continue during the break, he added.

The fourth round of negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian delegations started on Monday via video link and continued into Tuesday.

ANKARA - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will hold talks in Russia on Wednesday and visit Ukraine the next day amid efforts to establish a ceasefire between warring sides.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that "I am sending our foreign minister to Russia today. He will hold talks in Moscow tomorrow and will travel to Ukraine on Thursday."

"He will continue our efforts to achieve a ceasefire and peace through talks with both sides," the Turkish president said.

Turkey hosted the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum last week for their first high-level negotiations, although talks did not yield any progress for a ceasefire.

Erdogan has repeatedly reiterated that Ankara cannot abandon its ties either with Russia or Ukraine since Turkey is neighboring the two countries in the Black Sea.

KYIV - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) "open door" policy had not worked for Ukraine, the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency reported.

"For years we've heard about 'open doors,' but now we are hearing that we can't enter those doors, and we have to admit it. I am glad that our people are beginning to understand this and rely on themselves and on our partners who help us," Zelensky was quoted as saying.

Zelensky once again urged NATO to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine in the wake of the conflict with Russia, but noted that the likelihood of a positive decision of the alliance remains low.

Russia launched a special military operation against Ukraine on Feb 24.

BEIJING - A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday urged the United States to make tangible efforts to ease the situation in Ukraine.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a question on recent allegations reportedly made by an unnamed US official on relations between Russia and China with regard to the Ukraine crisis.

According to media reports, the official said the US government has notified NATO and certain Asian allies that Russia has requested military and economic assistance from China, and that China agreed but would deny it publicly.

The media reports also claimed that the United States took this step in order to increase its disclosure of intelligence as a means of countering disinformation.

Noting that Russia has denied asking China for military assistance, Zhao said that the United States creates and spreads disinformation from time to time, and such actions are unprofessional, unethical and irresponsible.

"Their practices will only cause the United States to be further discredited in the world," he said.

The United States should deeply reflect on the role it has played in the development of the Ukraine crisis and make tangible efforts to ease the situation in Ukraine, Zhao added.