Via Paul Sonne in nytimes.com: “The foreign ministers of China and Russia conferred by phone on Monday, after Beijing participated in weekend talks in Saudi Arabia aimed at ending the war in Ukraine that did not include Moscow. The Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, and his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, discussed ‘the Ukrainian crisis and other international and regional issues of common concern,’ according to a statement from China’s foreign ministry. During the call, Mr. Wang told Mr. Lavrov that China would ‘uphold an independent and impartial stance’ on Ukraine, ‘actively promote’ peace talks and seek a political solution to the conflict ‘on any multilateral occasion,’ the Chinese statement said.”
