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China will never forget the NATO bombings of the country's embassy in Yugoslavia in 1999 and believes that the alliance should have been "buried" together with the Cold War, the Chinese Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Friday.

In a statement, the ministry stressed that "Neither the Chinese people, nor the Serbian nationals and the international community will forget the barbarous NATO act of aggression."

The statement considered that the NATO military, headed by the United States, grossly violated the relevant international conventions and the fundamental norms of international relations.

The Foreign Ministry underlined that NATO "unashamedly bypassed" the UN Security Council regulations and bombed the sovereign state of Yugoslavia for 78 days, killing thousands of innocent civilians, including three Chinese journalists.

"Over 20 years, NATO, being an outcome of the Cold War, has not been buried by history together with the Cold War, still remaining to escalate the situation, seriously harming and threatening global security and stability," the statement read.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry also expressed hope that the US and NATO will "repent for the crimes" committed at that time and completely abandon the mentality of the Cold War, and cease imposing pressure on sovereign countries.

The NATO operation was undertaken without the approval of the UN Security Council. The alliance's airstrikes continued from March 24 to June 10, 1999, and claimed the lives of over 2,500 people, including 87 children.