BEIJING: China called on Monday for "all parties" involved in peace talks in Washington aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine to reach an agreement "as soon as possible".
President Donald Trump is hosting his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the US capital for talks on Monday, and has said reclaiming Crimea or entering NATO were off the table for Ukraine.
Zelensky, who has repeatedly rejected territorial concessions, is expected to meet Trump one-on-one before being joined by a cohort of European leaders, including European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, according to the White House schedule.
"We hope that all parties and stakeholders will participate in the peace talks in a timely manner and reach a fair, lasting, binding and acceptable peace agreement to all parties as soon as possible," China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular news conference.
Monday's meeting follows a summit between Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, which failed to yield a ceasefire breakthrough but produced promises from both leaders to provide "robust security guarantees" to Ukraine.
Asked about those discussions, Mao said: "China supports all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis and is glad to see Russia and the United States maintain contact, improve their relations and promote a political settlement process of the Ukraine crisis."