Chinese President Xi Jinping has a video call with US President Joe Biden at the latter's request in Beijing, capital of China, March 18, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

The two sides exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine.

President Biden expounded on the US position, and expressed readiness for communication with China to prevent the situation from exacerbating.

"China does not want to see the situation in Ukraine to come to this. China stands for peace and opposes war. This is embedded in China's history and culture," Xi said.

China makes a conclusion independently based on the merits of each matter, advocates upholding international law and universally recognized norms governing international relations, and adheres to the UN Charter and promotes the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. These are the major principles that underpin China's approach to the Ukraine crisis, Xi said.

Noting that China has put forward a six-point initiative on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, Xi said China is ready to provide further humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and other affected countries.

"All sides need to jointly support Russia and Ukraine in having dialogue and negotiation that will produce results and lead to peace," Xi said, adding that the US and NATO should also have dialogue with Russia to address the crux of the Ukraine crisis and ease the security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine.

Xi stressed that with the need to fight COVID-19 on the one hand and protect the economy and people's livelihood on the other, things are already very difficult for countries around the world.

"As leaders of major countries, we need to think about how to properly address global hotspot issues and, more importantly, keep in mind global stability and the work and life of billions of people," Xi said.

Sweeping and indiscriminate sanctions would only make the people suffer. If further escalated, they could trigger serious crises in global economy and trade, finance, energy, food, and industrial and supply chains, crippling the already languishing world economy and causing irrevocable losses, Xi added.

"The more complex the situation, the greater the need to remain cool-headed and rational," Xi said, adding that whatever the circumstances, there is always a need for political courage to create space for peace and leave room for political settlement.

"As two Chinese sayings go, 'It takes two hands to clap.' 'He who tied the bell to the tiger must take it off.' It is imperative that the parties involved demonstrate political will and find a proper settlement in view of both immediate and long-term needs," Xi said.

Xi said other parties can and should create conditions to that end. The pressing priority is to keep the dialogue and negotiation going, avoid civilian casualties, prevent a humanitarian crisis, and cease hostilities as soon as possible.

He said an enduring solution would be for major countries to respect each other, reject the Cold War mentality, refrain from bloc confrontation, and build step by step a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture for the region and for the world.

"China has been doing its best for peace and will continue to play a constructive role," Xi said.

Agreeing that the video call is constructive, the two Presidents directed their teams to promptly follow up and take concrete actions to put China-US relations back on the track of steady development, and make respective efforts for the proper settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

Ding Xuexiang, Liu He and Wang Yi were present at the call.