Wang made the comments during a telephone call late Wednesday—Thursday in Beijing—with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. His remarks represent China’s strongest public statement of support yet for Russia’s involvement in Ukraine.

Beijing’s statement following the conversation quoted Wang as telling Blinken that “Russia’s reasonable security concerns should be taken seriously and resolved.”

Russia has reportedly placed an estimated 100,000 troops along its borders with Ukraine in recent months, causing concern about a possible attack. The Kremlin has demanded that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other ex-Soviet countries, but NATO and the U.S. have rejected that stipulation.

The Biden administration has also urged U.S. citizens to leave Ukraine as tensions have escalated in recent weeks between the Eastern European country and Russia.

While the specter of conflict becomes greater, Wang urged all concerned countries not to act irrationally during his talk with Blinken.

“We call on all parties to remain calm and refrain from doing things that agitate tension and hype up the crisis,” Wang said in the statement, according to Reuters.

Blinken, meanwhile, reportedly called for Russia to soften its threatening stance.

“Secretary Blinken underscored the global security and economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine and conveyed that de-escalation and diplomacy are the responsible way forward,” the State Department said in a statement posted online after the phone call.

During the conversation, Wang brought up the possibility of forging a new Minsk Agreement. The accord, also known as the Minsk Protocol, was a peace plan signed in 2014 and 2015 that brought a cease-fire to a separatist war involving Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.

“To resolve the Ukrainian issue, we still need to return to the new Minsk Agreement—the starting point,” Wang said.

“The new Minsk Agreement, which was approved by the Security Council, is a fundamental political document recognized by all parties and should be effectively implemented,” he continued. “As long as efforts are made in line with the direction and spirit of the agreement, China will support them.”

Blinken has also recently called on Russia and Ukraine to return to the dialogue of the Minsk Agreement, calling it “the most promising avenue for diplomacy” during a December news conference.