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China ‘clearly wants’ Ukraine war to end, top Swiss diplomat says after seeking Beijing’s help on global peace summit
- Swiss foreign minister says Beijing ‘wants to stop the war’, though there is no ‘immediate answer’ on invitation to Swiss-hosted summit
- Help from China is important ‘because of its great relations with Russia’, Ignazio Cassis says hours after talks with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi
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Switzerland’s top diplomat has sought China’s help in preparing for a Ukraine peace summit, and said Beijing sent “clear” indications that it wanted the war to end.
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Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said while expecting an immediate solution to the conflict would be like chasing an “illusion”, the Swiss-hosted global peace talks were a “first step” towards resolving the situation.
“We can’t do anything if we stay seated. We are moving forward by taking the first step so I think all wars would sooner or later be terminated in a diplomatic way,” Cassis, who is in Beijing for a two-day visit, said.
“If we don’t dare to take the first step, we will never arrive anywhere.”
Switzerland last month agreed to host a global peace summit at the request of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said the summit was “open to all countries that respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
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