China calls for calmness, restraint to prevent worsening Red Sea situation

China calls for calmness and restraint of all sides to prevent the Red Sea situation from worsening, said Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, at the UN Security Council meeting on the Yemen issue on Tuesday.

Over the past weeks, the conflict in Gaza continued, and the Lebanon-Israel situation sharply worsened, with side effects spilling over, while the Houthis attacked Israel, and Israel launched air strikes at Yemen's ports of Hodeidah and Ras Issa, Geng said.

He said China is deeply concerned over the current situation and its future course, highlighting the priority is to deescalate the situation and prevent the conflict from intensifying.

Geng stressed that dialog and negotiations are the only right choice to resolve the Yemen issue.

"The continuous tensions in the Red Sea do not conform to the common interests of the international community. China once again calls on the Houthis to respect the right of business ships from all countries to sail in the waters of the Red Sea, stop attacking and disturbing the ships, and maintain the safety of the waterways in the sea. All relevant parties also should stay calm, exercise restraint and stop actions that will escalate the tensions," said Geng.

Noting that the situation in Yemen is closely related to the Middle East situation, Geng said the conflict in Gaza lasting over one year has caused unprecedented humanitarian crisis and is pulling the region into the mire of war and conflict.

At this critical moment, the situation must not be allowed to further deteriorate to a point of no return, he said.

Geng urged the UN Security Council to maintain solidarity and take measures to halt reckless risk-taking military operations that will intensify the conflict and push for permanent ceasefire in Gaza and deescalate the Lebanon-Israel conflict as soon as possible to avoid an even greater catastrophe in the Middle East.

China calls for calmness, restraint to prevent worsening Red Sea situation

China calls for calmness, restraint to prevent worsening Red Sea situation

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that its forces had seized six more settlements in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, while Ukraine claimed the same day that its forces had attacked a Russian oil refinery.

In its latest report, the ministry said that over the past 24 hours, Russian forces had taken control of four settlements in the Donetsk region and two in the Zaporizhzhia region. It added that Russian forces struck energy facilities serving Ukraine's military-industrial enterprises and that the country's air defense systems shot down 370 Ukrainian drones.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a report issued at 20:00 Sunday that over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian forces had carried out strikes on Russian targets, including assembly areas and command posts. It added that Ukrainian troops had repelled Russian offensives in the Slobozhansk, Kupyansk and Liman directions.

Ukrainian forces also said they launched an attack on the Syzran oil refinery in Russia's Samara region early in the morning, sparking a fire.

Russia reports capturing 6 more settlements, Ukraine says it struck Russian oil refinery