Ukraine's ambassador to Australia has countered his Chinese counterpart, calling on Beijing to leverage its relationship with Russia to withdraw its troops.
Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian told the National Press Club Beijing had not intervened on either side of the Russia-Ukraine war due to ongoing relationships with both Moscow and Kyiv.
"We have good relations with Russia for sure, but at the same time, we have very good relations with Ukraine as well - very in-depth cooperation in many areas, including technology," Mr Xiao said on Wednesday.
"There's no reason for us to support one against the other or other way around."
But Ukrainian ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko says Beijing needs to intervene and put pressure on Russia to withdraw in order to secure Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
"I believe it's not in the interests of China for Russia to continue its invasion of Ukraine," Mr Myroshnychenko told AAP.
"The wellbeing of Chinese people depends on this war being over and the only way it will be over is if Russia completely withdraws.
"Prices for food and commodities are going up and China is the biggest consumer of commodities."
Mr Myroshnychenko echoed his leader's call for Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
"Yes, we do have a good relationship (with China) and we hope China can leverage its position with Russia ... as it did in Kazakhstan."
But Mr Xiao earlier said the war in Ukraine was not a simple matter when asked why Beijing had failed to condemn the invasion, citing Ukraine's history as a former Soviet Union territory as a complicating factor.
"These two countries used to be the part of the former Soviet Union, so the relationship between these two countries is rather complicated," he said.
"We are for a bilateral discussion at the table to find out a political solution between these two countries."
Mr Xiao blamed the conflict in eastern Europe as a dispute between Russia and NATO, saying the security bloc had surrounded Moscow by expanding its alliance.
"There is security concern from Russia and a feeling of being cornered again and again, at least six or seven times by the expansion of NATO, which is a breakaway from their promise not to do that," he said.
"We're for a negotiation between NATO members, United States and Russia, to sit down and negotiate for a comprehensive, sustainable security mechanism."
The speech comes amid a crisis in the Taiwan Strait.
Beijing has fired 11 ballistic missiles towards Taiwan and carried out simulated attacks following US Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island last week.
It has warned other countries to respect the one-China principle.
