No one wants to see 3rd World War: China on Russia's nuclear conflict warning

'We hope that relevant parties can keep cool-headed and exercise restraint to prevent escalation of tension'

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin : File picture

TT Bureau, PTI   |   Beijing   |    26.04.22  : China on Tuesday played down Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's warning of a "serious" possibility of nuclear conflict over the Ukraine war, saying no one wants to see a 3rd World War.

"No one wants to see the outbreak of a 3rd World War," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here reacting to Lavrov's remarks about the real threat of a 3rd World War breaking out following the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"We hope that relevant parties can keep cool-headed and exercise restraint, prevent escalation of tension, realise peace as soon as possible and avoid inflicting a heavier price on Europe and the world," Wang said.

Russian news agency Tass quoted Lavrov as saying in a media interview that the inadmissibility of a nuclear war is the principled position of Moscow, however, the danger of such a conflict should not be underestimated.

"This is our principled position, we are guided by this, and of course I would not want to see these risks artificially inflated now, when the risks are rather significant," Lavrov said.

"The danger is serious, it is real, it should not be underestimated," Lavrov said.

Outlining the position of China, which is a close ally of Russia, Wang said "under the current circumstances, all parties should, first and foremost, support dialogue and negotiation to prevent the expansion and prolongation of conflicts .

But at the same time, he laid the blame for Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the European Union (EU).

"At the same time, we should reflect on why Europe has again got caught up in the geopolitical conflict more than 30 years after the end of the Cold War, on how to build a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture, and on how to strengthen the global security governance system," he said.