ISTANBUL

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday emphasized the importance of the EU's participation in peace negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war, urging Europe to be "not on the menu" but "at the table."

Asked what China could do to convince Russia end its war on Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference, Wang said: "Europe should not watch this from the sidelines. Right here, in Munich last year at that time United States had started engagement with Russia, and Europe seemed to be left watching from the sidelines ... Europe has every right to participate in the negotiation in due course. ... Europe should not be on the menu, but should be at the table."

He added that "China is not a party directly involved," and promotes dialogue for peace.

"Now we're seeing that Europe has come up with the courage to talk with Russia," he said, urging Europe to come up with new ideas and plans.

The US, Russia and Ukraine are currently holding trilateral dialogue to end the war that continues since February 2022, which has been hailed by Wang.

Wang said the EU and China are “partners who are not systemic rivals or strategic competitors.”

"We acknowledge that we there are differences and divergences between us, but that doesn't mean that we couldn't reach better harmony," he said. "It is more important for China and the EU to practice multilateralism, to safeguard the authority of the United Nations, to say no to unilateral practices, and to safeguard free trade and oppose block confrontation." He was answering another question about "China's strategy to convince Europeans that it's a good idea and not a bad idea to engage more strongly with China."

The Chinese foreign minister also hailed the UN. “Without the UN ... many medium and small sized countries would lose the multilateral foundation critical to their survival and development,” he said, blaming "certain countries seeking to magnify differences and disagreements" for why the international system "is not functioning well enough."

He urged major countries to lead in advancing cooperation, observing rules, promoting equality, encouraging openness.

Wang emphasized that "the realization of ceasefire and reconstruction will require unremitting efforts" to implement the two-state solution in Gaza and that "restoring justice to the Palestinian people is the unstable responsibility of the international community."

He also said that the situation in Iran "has a direct impact on peace in the Middle East."

The three-day Munich Security Conference began on Friday and brings together dozens of heads of state and government, ministers and senior officials from around the world.

- 2 ways for US-China relations

Wang said that US-China relations have two roads ahead, diverging from each other.

One is the one where Washington "can understand China reasonably and objectively and have a positive and pragmatic policy toward China and our two sides work together in the same direction, expand our interests that will lead us to cooperation," which would be the "best outcome for both countries and the world," he said.

The other, he added, is "seeking decoupling from China and severing supply chains, and opposing China on everything in a purely emotional knee jerk way," such as efforts to "split Taiwan" from China.

It "would very much likely push China and the US toward conflict," Wang said.

China wants to see "the first prospect, and I believe you share the same way, but China is well prepared to address all kinds of risks."