China to provide Ukraine humanitarian aid, praises Russia ties

A local resident reacts as a house is on fire after heavy shelling on the only escape route used by locals to leave the town of Irpin, while Russian troops advance towards the capital, in Irpin, Ukraine on March 6. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

China's Red Cross will provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine "as soon as possible", Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday, as he praised his country's friendship with Russia as "rock solid". China has refused to condemn Russia's attack on Ukraine or call it an invasion while asking Western countries to respect Russia's "legitimate security concerns.". Wang said the causes of the "Ukraine situation" were "complex" and had not happened overnight. "Solving complex problems requires calmness and rationality, rather than adding fuel to the fire and intensifying contradictions," he told a news conference on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China's parliament. China is willing to continue to make its own efforts to resolve the humanitarian crisis and the country's Red Cross will "as soon as possible" provide a batch of aid to Ukraine, Wang said, without giving details. Russian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping hours before the start of last month's Winter Olympics in Beijing and they signed a wide-ranging strategic partnership aimed at countering US influence and said they would have "no 'forbidden' areas of cooperation". Wang said the friendship between China and Russia was "rock solid" and prospects for cooperation bright. "No matter how sinister the international situation is, both China and Russia will maintain their strategic determination and continuously push forward the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination in the new era."