China, Russia issue joint statement on Syria

BEIJING - The parliaments of China and Russia on Thursday released a joint statement on the crisis in Syria, stating that negotiation is the only feasible resolution to the issue.

The joint statement was signed by the foreign affairs committees of both China's National People's Congress and Russia's Federation Council.

The statement said the two countries are very concerned about the situation in Syria.

Turmoil, civilian casualties, refugee flows, ruin of cultural heritage and other tragic events have made the crisis one of the most horrible tragedies in the world, it said.

The people of China and Russia hope for an early settlement to the crisis, the restoration of peace and an end to the bloodshed, it said.

The two countries hold that the threat of forces or external military intervention is absolutely unacceptable.

The two countries are worried about reports of the use of chemical weapons and support an accurate and objective international investigation into reported incidents and refer the survey report to the Security Council of the United Nations, it said.

We welcome the decision of Syrian leaders to join the Chemical Weapons Convention as well as the Russia-U.S. framework agreement on resolving the issue of Syrian chemical weapons, said the statement.

The people and legislative institutions of China and Russia hope for an early convening of the second international conference on Syria in Geneva, it said.

Dialogue and the willingness of seeking compromise is the only way out to resolve the crisis, relieve the severe calamities of the Syrian people and avoid more negative changes in the Middle East situation, the statement said.