China has called for a renewed ceasefire and peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

In a 12-point release released on Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry said: “All parties should support Russia and Ukraine to act in the same direction and quickly resume direct dialogue, so as to gradually defuse the situation and eventually reach a comprehensive ceasefire.”

Although the paper repeated Beijing’s talking points, it was published on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine.

The position comes days after Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the US had information that China was considering sending “dangerous support” to Russia.

“Nuclear weapons should not be used,” the Chinese government said in a paper titled “China’s Position on Political Resolution of the Ukraine Crisis.”

In the statement, the Chinese government urged the international community to support the “correct approach” in facilitating peace talks between the two countries and said Beijing “wants to play a constructive role”.

Without referring to the United States or its allies, which support Washington-led sanctions, China said “relevant countries should stop abusing unilateral sanctions and ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ against other countries to play their part in de-escalating the Ukraine crisis.”

China has previously expressed concern over the ongoing war in Ukraine, with Premier Li Keqiang saying in March last year that he was “deeply concerned” about the crisis in the region.

However, it is unclear how much Beijing has done to support the peace talks, or whether it is able to do so in practice. Its leaders are in frequent contact.

Wang Yi — China’s former foreign minister who was recently promoted to a senior diplomatic role — met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow this week, according to state media. Wang told the crowd that it was important not to give up efforts for peace A state media report said.

In addition to the significant cost in human lives, the war in Ukraine has devastated the local economy of one of the world’s largest grain producers.

As the war enters its second year, analysts told CNBC that Russia will seek to seize key parts of Ukraine.

Speaking from Beijing on the one-year anniversary of the war, the European Union’s ambassador to China, Jorge Toledo Albinana, called on China to take action to support peace in Ukraine.

“We continue to call on our guest China to fulfill its special responsibility,” he said, adding that “China has an obligation to uphold the Charter in the face of aggression.” Live broadcast presentation.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to decline after the release in Asian hours and were last trading 30 points lower in late afternoon trade in Asia.

Geopolitical risks are being underestimated by the market, Peter Cornry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Markets, said in a statement. Note Earlier this week.

“If China decides to help Russia with weapons, globalization will be over and supply chains will be thrown back into chaos,” he wrote.

“If one broadens the perspective of geopolitical risks, we can see that the upside risks are substantial if the war in Ukraine takes a turn for the worse,” he said.

— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.