China on Monday urged Russia and Ukraine to strive for a political resolution of their differences through dialogue and negotiation.

China's ambassador to UN Liu Jieyi

During an urgent meeting of the Security Council on Ukraine, China's ambassador to UN, Liu Jieyi, said his nation condemned violence there.

"China has been urging the relevant parties in Ukraine to resolve their internal disputes peacefully ... so as to safeguard the lawful rights and interests of all ethnic communities in Ukraine and restore normal social order at an early date," said the envoy.

He reminded that "China consistently stands for the principle of non-interference in any country's internal affairs and respects the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

"There are reasons for why the situation in Ukraine is what it is today," he said, but did not give any of them, appearing strictly neutral.

He called on Russia and Ukraine to strive for "a political resolution of their differences through dialogue and negotiation based on respect for international law and norms governing international relations in order to uphold regional peace and stability."

Also at the meeting, Russian ambassador to UN Vitaly Churkin showed council members what he said was a photo copy of a letter written in Russian from ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, in which he called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to "use the armed forces of Russia" to reinstall him so as to restore law and order in Ukraine.

He said Russia's "deep concern" for its citizens living in Crimea and Russian-speaking residents of Crimea prompted its troop movements.

While sounding at one point like Moscow might be receptive to mediation by Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and others, Churkin deferred commitment, saying that it was not up to him to make such a decision.

He repeated Moscow's assertions that radical extremists were responsible for threats against Russians and Russian speakers, institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church, attacks on government buildings.

Envoys of the West disputed the assertions.

Monday's meeting, the third of its kind in four days, came shortly after UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson arrived in Kiev, capital of Ukraine, on a fact-finding trip.

Eliasson was joined by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy to Ukraine, Robert Serry, a former Dutch ambassador to Kiev.

Over the weekend, Russian forces have been seen beefed up along the Russia-Ukraine border and in Ukraine's southern autonomous republic of Crimea, host to Russia's Black Sea fleet in the port of Sevastopol.

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