ISTANBUL

China on Thursday urged Poland and Russia to handle the drone issue through talks.

"We hope that the relevant sides can properly handle disputes through dialogue and consultations," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian during a news conference in Beijing.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his country's airspace was violated by Russian drones on Tuesday night, adding that NATO and Polish forces downed several drones. Tusk said authorities initially recorded 19 airspace violations.

The Russian Defense Ministry, however, denied any intention to strike Polish targets during its night attacks on Ukraine. The ministry expressed a willingness to discuss the incident with Polish officials.

It acknowledged conducting a massive strike against Ukraine's military-industrial facilities in the Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytskyi, and Zhytomyr regions, as well as in Vinnytsia and Lviv.​​​​​​​

Tusk had said on Tuesday that the country's border with Belarus would be completely closed, including the railways, which would affect China-Europe Railway Express' Belarus leg, from Thursday midnight to Friday.

Lin, in response, said that the China-Europe Railway Express is "a flagship project of the cooperation between China and Poland and cooperation between China and the EU," serving the interests of both sides.

"We hope Poland will take effective measures to ensure the safe and smooth operation of the Express and ensure the stability of international industry and supply chains," he added.

Japan is "gravely concerned" over the matter, said Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.

Hayashi cautioned that the incident could lead to an "escalation of the situation," and said that Japan is monitoring the developments and "will continue to work closely with relevant countries."