China welcomes mediation efforts in solving Ukraine crisis

BEIJING - China applauded Wednesday the recent intensive mediation efforts in solving the Ukraine crisis.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks in response to a question regarding a meeting of the contact group on Ukraine in Minsk Tuesday, which was reported by the Belarusian Telegraph Agency as having agreed on a ceasefire deal and a scheme for the withdrawal of heavy weapons.

China welcomes and supports the intensive mediation efforts of parties concerned in easing the tension in east Ukraine and promoting political settlement of the crisis, Hua said.

"We expect to hear good news of parties concerned reaching important consensus on settling the crisis as soon as possible, in order to promote peace and stability of the conflict area in Ukraine," she said.

Attending the closed-door contact group meeting were former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, OSCE (the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) Special Representative Heidi Tagliavini, Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, and representatives of the self-declared republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego.

The meeting marked the start of a new round of consultations ahead of the much-anticipated Minsk summit scheduled Wednesday.