Five member countries voice support for comprehensive solution to Ukraine issue

China hopes that BRICS will further enhance communication and coordination on major international and regional affairs, contribute to the political settlement of hot spot issues, and put forth BRICS proposals to uphold world peace, a senior diplomat said.

Ma Zhaoxu, sherpa for BRICS affairs and vice-foreign minister, made the remark while hosting a two-day meeting via video link of BRICS sherpas from the member countries－Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The meeting, which concluded on Wednesday, came amid the Ukraine conflict, with the BRICS countries highly concerned about the situation.

Ma said the BRICS nations, as outstanding representatives of emerging markets and developing countries, should deepen their strategic partnership and act as a stabilizer in the current situation and a booster of development.

China stands ready to continue to strengthen communication and coordination, advance practical cooperation with BRICS partners and demonstrate the unique strategic value of BRICS, Ma added.

The BRICS countries all voiced their support for multilateralism and maintained that the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter should be observed, and the reasonable security concerns of all countries should be respected.

They noted that they support dialogue and negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to seek a comprehensive solution to the Ukraine issue. The countries are also deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine and support all efforts for Ukrainian humanitarian aid.

They also paid special attention to the serious negative consequences of unilateral sanctions, which undermine industrial and supply chains and food and energy security and affect the implementation of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The five countries called for putting more emphasis on addressing the concerns of developing countries to ensure that people's livelihoods in all countries can be shielded from economic impacts.

The sherpas' meeting, the second of its kind this year, was held at a critical stage during preparations for the 14th BRICS Leaders' Meeting. The first one was held in January.

More than 20 events have been held and a number of positive results have been achieved in key areas, such as global governance and epidemic prevention and control, since China assumed the rotating presidency of BRICS on Jan 1, Ma said.

The five countries officially launched the BRICS Vaccine R&D Center last month and proposed to strengthen vaccination cooperation and jointly build a "BRICS defense line" to fight the pandemic, which Ma lauded as an important milestone.

"In response to serious challenges to global development, we should place development at the center of our cooperation," Ma said, underlining the need for BRICS to safeguard the shared interests of emerging markets and developing countries and contribute to advancing the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Ma called for the five countries to improve global economic governance by promoting multilateralism and pushing globalization to be more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all.

Last week, the BRICS countries held this year's first BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting, agreeing on finance cooperation and stronger policy coordination to promote global economic recovery.