China, which Russia has sought as an ally since being cold-shouldered by the West over its invasion of Ukraine, has referred to as the United States the “main instigator” of the disaster.
In an interview with the Russian state information company TASS revealed on Wednesday, China’s ambassador to Moscow, Zhang Hanhui, accused Washington of backing Russia right into a nook with repeated expansions of the NATO defence alliance and help for forces in search of to align Ukraine with the European Union reasonably than Moscow.
“As the initiator and main instigator of the Ukrainian crisis, Washington, while imposing unprecedented comprehensive sanctions on Russia, continues to supply arms and military equipment to Ukraine,” Zhang was quoted as saying.
“Their ultimate goal is to exhaust and crush Russia with a protracted war and the cudgel of sanctions.”
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The ambassador’s reasoning carefully adopted one in all Russia’s personal justifications of its invasion of Ukraine, which has resulted in 1000’s of deaths and the devastation of complete cities, in addition to driving greater than 1 / 4 of the inhabitants to flee their houses.
Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to Beijing in February to fulfill President Xi Jinping as Russian tanks have been massing on the Ukrainian border, agreeing what each states hailed as a “no limits” partnership superior to any Cold War alliance.
In the interview, Zhang mentioned Sino-Russian relations had entered “the best period in history, characterised by the highest level of mutual trust, the highest degree of interaction, and the greatest strategic importance”.
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He railed in opposition to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s go to final week to self-governing Taiwan, which China claims as its personal, and mentioned the United States was attempting to use the identical ways in Ukraine and Taiwan to “revive a Cold War mentality, contain China and Russia, and provoke major power rivalry and confrontation”.
“Non-intervention in internal affairs is the most fundamental principle of maintaining peace and stability in our world,” Zhang mentioned, making use of the precept to criticise Washington’s Taiwan coverage however not Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia calls the invasion a “special military operation” and says it was obligatory not solely to keep up its personal safety but in addition to guard Russian-speakers from persecution.
Ukraine and the West say these are baseless pretexts for an imperial warfare of aggression in opposition to a neighbour that gained independence when the Moscow-led Soviet Union broke up in 1991.
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