China says all efforts should be recognised in Russia-Ukraine peace measures

BEIJING (Reuters) - China believes all efforts should be recognised in supporting peace measures around the Russia-Ukraine war, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday.

China has never "fanned fire or fuelled the flames", said Mao Ning, addressing a question on a peace summit.

According to a report, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia and China of attempting to undermine his planned global peace summit in Switzerland in mid-June.

China attaches great importance to its relations with Ukraine and remains its largest trading partner, Mao said, adding that China's position on the peace conference is very "open and transparent".

"We believe that we can get the understanding and support of all parties."

Switzerland is seeking a broad-based turnout from different parts of the world for the summit, which Bern hopes will lay the groundwork for a peace process in Ukraine.

Russia and China proclaimed a "no limits" relationship just days before Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 but Beijing has so far avoided providing actual weapons and ammunition for Russia's war effort.

(Reporting by Liz Lee; Writing by Bernard Orr and Farah Master; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Bernadette Baum)