Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that a political resolution was the only way to end the Ukraine crisis, as Moscow and Kiev edged closer to a military confrontation.
Wang made the comments during a meeting in Beijing with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who said that both China and Germany had an interest in ensuring that the Crimea issue does not set a precedent.
Over the weekend, armed separatists took control of a city in eastern Ukraine and Kiev prepared troops to tackle what it called an "act of aggression by Russia".
The West accuses Russia of destabilising the region as a pretext to potentially sending in troops to protect the local Russian-speaking population.
CIA Director visited Kiev in secret
The White House confirmed that the CIA chief John Brennan visited Kiev last weekend, where he held a series of secret meetings with the current leaders of Ukraine, Reuters reports.
White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that the CIA director was in Kiev as part of a trip to Europe.
"Senior level visits of intelligence officials are a standard means of fostering mutually beneficial security cooperation including US-Russian intelligence collaboration going back to the beginnings of the post-Cold War era," Carney said.
"US and Russian intelligence officials have met over the years. To imply that US officials meeting with their counterparts is anything other than in the same spirit is absurd," he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday said Moscow would like Washington to explain reports in the Russian media that CIA director John Brennan visited the Ukrainian capital at the weekend.
"We would like to understand the meaning of reports about an urgent visit of CIA director Mr Brennan to Kiev," Lavrov told reporters in Moscow. "So far we have not been given any explanations that would be reasonable."
UN warns about dangers of nationalistic rhetoric in Ukraine
UN has warned about the dangers posed by nationalistic rhetoric in Ukraine, which may affect the situation in the country.
A report on the observance of human rights in Ukraine drawn up by the UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic says this problem has particular significance now that the country is getting closer to the presidential election scheduled for May 25.
Propagation of ideas of ethnic, racial and religious hatred on the part of some political forces and separate individuals, which only serves as instigation to discrimination and animosity, as well as the nationalistic rhetoric that made itself manifest during protests on Kiev's Independence Square may wield a very heavy impact on the situation in the country, the report says.
China neutrality valuable for Ukraine crisis
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrives in China on Tuesday.
Foreign media have speculated that apart from paving the way for Russia President Vladimir Putin's visit to China next month and promoting Sino-Russian economic and trade cooperation, Lavrov will be sure to discuss the escalating tension in Ukraine's eastern region with the Chinese side. >> More
