China welcomes Russia's willingness to resume negotiations with Ukraine, US: FM spokesperson

BEIJING -- China welcomes Russia's willingness to hold dialogues and resume negotiations with Ukraine and the United States, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday.

Wang told a daily news briefing that Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, held a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday, and the two sides exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis.

According to the spokesperson, the Russian side expressed its willingness to hold dialogues and resume negotiations with Ukraine and the United States.

"China welcomes this and hopes that relevant parties will step up diplomatic efforts to ease and even resolve the situation as soon as possible through negotiations and other political channels," the spokesperson said.

The two sides also discussed the issue of not allowing the use of weapons of mass destruction, said the spokesperson, adding that China believes that further escalation of the situation should be avoided to prevent humanitarian disasters.