China foreign minister in rare call with Ukraine counterpart

BEIJING (AP) — China’s foreign minister has told his Ukrainian counterpart that Beijing is concerned about the grinding conflict there spinning out of control and has urged talks on a political solution. Qin Gang made his remarks in a rare phone conversation to Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday. China has a declared “no-limits” friendship with Russia and has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s done so while condemning Western sanctions and accusing NATO and the United States of provoking Russia into action. Despite that, Qin reiterated that China was neutral over the conflict and would continue to play a constructive role in promoting peace. China and Ukraine have diplomatic ties but their top officials are believed to have had only sporadic contact.