By Michelle Nichols and Simon Lewis

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned the United Nations Safety Council on Friday that it shouldn’t be fooled by requires a brief or unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine, saying a “simply and sturdy” peace can’t enable Russia to relaxation and rearm.

The council met to mark the one 12 months anniversary of Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, which was launched on Feb. 24 final 12 months because the 15-member physique met in New York over Western issues that Moscow was planning such a transfer.

Blinken’s warning to the council got here simply hours after China referred to as for a complete ceasefire as a part of a 12-point plan on the warfare that was largely a reiteration of its strategy since Russia launched what it calls a “particular army operation.”

“Any peace that legitimizes Russia’s seizure of land by drive will weaken the (U.N.) Constitution and ship a message to would-be aggressors in all places that they’ll invade international locations and get away with it,” Blinken mentioned.

The 193-member U.N. Common Meeting overwhelmingly remoted Russia on Thursday, calling for a “complete, simply and lasting peace” in keeping with the founding U.N. Constitution and once more demanding Moscow withdraw its troops and cease preventing.

“No member of this council ought to name for peace whereas supporting Russia’s warfare on Ukraine and on the U.N. Constitution,” mentioned Blinken, who has accused China of contemplating supplying arms to Russia and warned Beijing towards such a transfer.

‘SOUNDS PRETTY’

Western powers have supplied Ukraine with billions of {dollars} in weapons since Russia invaded. China advised the Common Meeting on Thursday that “sending weapons won’t carry peace” in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s International Minister Dmytro Kuleba advised the Safety Council that any new peace proposals ought to be aligned with the calls for made by the Common Meeting.

“We now have at all times taken an goal and neutral stance based mostly on the deserves of the difficulty and are able to proceed to play a accountable and constructive position in easing the state of affairs, resolving the disaster,” China’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dai Bing advised the Safety Council on Friday.

Russia says it’s making an attempt to “denazify” Ukraine and shield Russian audio system within the east of the nation, and in addition accuses the West of waging a “proxy warfare” towards it by arming Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Moscow.

Western powers say it’s an unprovoked land seize and that if Russia stops preventing and withdraws then the warfare will finish, but when Ukraine stops preventing then it would stop to exist as an unbiased nation.

“It sounds fairly nevertheless it’s completely false,” Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia advised the Safety Council. “The place, when and from whom did you hear that the aim of our army operation is to destroy Ukraine … We now have by no means acknowledged such a aim.”

The Safety Council has held dozens of conferences on Ukraine previously 12 months however has been unable to take any significant motion as a result of Russia is ready to wield a veto.