China on Tuesday urged Russia and Ukraine to prefer diplomacy and dialogue to war.

According to Yeni Safak, “China regrets the reported casualties and it’s not the situation China wants to see,” Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of China’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Beijing while speaking about the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The Russia-Ukraine war entered its sixth day on Tuesday, with the latest reports indicating that Russian troops were heading toward the capital Kyiv.

At least 136 civilians have been killed so far in Ukraine and more than 600,000 others have fled the country, according to UN officials.

“China hopes the two sides will pursue dialogue and take each other's reasonable concerns into account to ensure Europe's security,” Wang said, according to Chinese daily Global Times.

Ukraine says more than 350 civilians have been killed and over 1,600 injured during attacks by Russian forces.

The war has been met with outrage from the international community, with the EU, UK, US, and Japan implementing a range of economic sanctions on Russia.

Wang added China hopes all “relevant parties show restraint to prevent the situation from further deteriorating.”

“China supports and encourages all the diplomatic efforts in favor of resolving the Ukraine crisis through peaceful means,” he stressed, referring to a round of talks between representatives of Russia and Ukraine in Belarus on Monday.

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