China calls the United States the “main instigator” of the Ukraine crisis

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China, February 4, 2022. Sputnik/Alexey Druzhinin/Kremlin via Reuters Attention Editors – This image was provided by a third party/File image

LONDON (Reuters) – China, whose ally Russia has sought since being cooled by the West over its invasion of Ukraine, has described the United States as the “main instigator” of the crisis.

In an interview with Russia’s official news agency TASS published on Wednesday, China’s ambassador to Moscow, Zhang Hanhui, accused Washington of backing Russia into the corner with repeated expansions of the NATO defense alliance and supporting forces seeking to align Ukraine with the European Union. instead of Moscow.

“As the main initiator and instigator of the Ukraine crisis, Washington, while imposing unprecedented comprehensive sanctions on Russia, continues to supply Ukraine with weapons and military equipment,” Zhang was quoted as saying.

Their ultimate goal is to exhaust and crush Russia with a protracted war and the baton of sanctions.”

The ambassador’s reasoning closely followed one of Russia’s own justifications for its invasion of Ukraine, killing thousands and destroying entire cities, as well as driving more than a quarter of the population to flee their homes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Beijing in February to meet President Xi Jinping as Russian tanks massed on the Ukrainian border, agreeing on what the two countries called a “borderless” partnership superior to any Cold War alliance. Read more

In the interview, Zhang said that Sino-Russian relations have entered “the best period in history, characterized by the highest level of mutual trust, the highest degree of interaction, and the greatest strategic importance.”

He criticized US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit last week to self-governing Taiwan, which China claims belongs to, and said the US is trying to apply the same tactics in Ukraine and Taiwan “to revive a Cold War mentality, contain China and Russia, and provoke competition and confrontation between major powers.” “.

“Non-interference in internal affairs is the basic principle of maintaining peace and stability in our world,” Zhang said, applying the principle to criticize Washington’s Taiwan policy rather than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia describes the invasion as a “special military operation” and says it was necessary not only to maintain its security but also to protect Russian speakers from persecution.

Ukraine and the West say these are baseless excuses to launch a war of imperialist aggression against its neighbor, which gained independence when the Moscow-led Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991.

Reporting by Reuters. Editing by Mark Heinrich

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