Beijing: China on Monday reiterated its call for a political settlement of the Ukraine conflict after an alleged Russian strike on a nuclear fuel storage facility in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Beijing “attaches high importance to the safety and security of nuclear facilities,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a regular news conference in Beijing.

According to Anadolu Agency, the ultimate resolution of this issue is “contingent on the political settlement of the conflict. Dialogue and negotiation is the only viable way out,” Lin Jian stated, urging the involved parties to work towards “early de-escalation and accumulate conditions for resuming dialogue and negotiation.”

Lin’s remarks came following Ukraine’s accusation that Russia conducted an overnight drone attack on a nuclear storage facility in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone on Sunday. Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal reported that a Russian drone struck a building at Ukraine’s Centralized Spent Fuel Storage Facility, resulting in a fire that was subsequently extinguished.

Russia has not immediately responded to Ukraine’s allegations concerning the attack on the spent fuel storage facility.