News - Middle East: Chinese President Xi Jinping has described the situation in Ukraine as "worrying," calling for "maximum restraint" to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the European country, where Russia has been conducting military strikes.

Xi made the remarks at a virtual meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday, stressing that the priority should be preventing the situation in Ukraine from spinning out of control.

He said Beijing was "pained to see the flames of war reignited in Europe," calling on France and Germany to make efforts to reduce the negative impacts of the ongoing crisis.

"The pressing task at the moment is to prevent the tense situation from escalating or even running out of control," he told Macron and Scholz, adding, "We need to call for maximum restraint to prevent a massive humanitarian crisis."