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Putin meets with a senior Chinese official who supports Russia as it prepares an international proposal on Ukraine

2023-02-22T15:26:08.817Z


"We are willing to deepen our strategic partnership," said the Chinese diplomatic official, "other countries cannot exert pressure on our relations."


By Jennifer Jett and Larissa Gao —

NBC News

Just days after the visit of the president, Joe Biden, to Kiev to show his support for Ukraine on the anniversary of the Russian invasion, the main Chinese foreign policy official, Wang Yi, traveled to Moscow this Wednesday to meet with the leader Russian Vladimir Putin, who is now awaiting a visit from Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

“We are willing to deepen our strategic partnership,” Wang said, according to the Reuters news agency.

“Other countries cannot put pressure on our relations,” she said.

Putin greets Wang in Moscow on February 22. Anton Novoderezhkin / AP

This visit feeds the fear that Western support for Ukraine will be matched by a redoubled Chinese commitment to Russia.

China has been caught in a delicate balancing act, experts told NBC News, but it could become increasingly tense as the conflict moves into its second year.

[The war in Ukraine enters a decisive period]

The United States has accused Beijing of giving Russia non-lethal military aid against Ukraine, and even considering providing lethal aid.

China denies the accusations and says the United States has aggravated the situation by sending weapons to Ukraine.

China insists on its commitment to promote peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, and will publish a political document in the coming days explaining its views on a possible diplomatic agreement.

China Responds To Antony Blinken Over His Claims They Will Send Weapons To Russia

Feb 20, 202300:25

China is "deeply concerned" about the possibility of the Ukrainian conflict spiraling out of control, its foreign minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday.

"We urge certain countries to immediately stop stoking the fire," he told a security conference, apparently referring to the US.

[Biden responds to Putin from Poland: “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia”]

China and Russia, two great powers that share a 2,500-mile border, see themselves as counterweights to American world dominance.

Their relationship has come under increased scrutiny since February, when Xi and Putin released a lengthy joint statement affirming an "unlimited" partnership just weeks before Moscow invaded Ukraine.

The two leaders, who have met more than three dozen times in the past decade, have "a very good personal relationship [and] call each other old friends," said Zheng Wang, director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies. from Seton Hall University of New Jersey.

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Since the war began a year ago, China has refrained from condemning the Russian aggression, while urging peace talks, expressing concern over the humanitarian situation and trying not to violate international sanctions.

[Russia suspends the last remaining major nuclear treaty with the US due to the invasion in Ukraine]

China has been "trying to do two things at once," said Joseph Torigian, an expert on China and Russia at American University in Washington.

“On the one hand, they want to support Russia because, in the long term, they see Russia as a key partner in an increasingly competitive relationship, especially with the United States,” he said, “but, at the same time, they are concerned about the economic cost and reputation, especially in the European Union”.

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Feb 21, 202300:28

While trade with China can help Russia's war machine, there has so far been little evidence that China "breaches sanctions and provides lethal materiel or weapons to Russia," Torigian said.

But as Russia fights on the battlefield, he added, China "may come under increasing Russian pressure for help that could put them in an increasingly difficult situation."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the Chinese regime appears to be providing Russia with non-lethal military aid against Ukraine.

In addition, "there are various types of lethal aid that they are at least contemplating providing, including weapons," he told NBC News, without elaborating.

Other Western leaders have also expressed concern.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that he was "growingly concerned that China may be planning to provide lethal support to Russia's war."

Josep Borrell, the European Union's head of foreign affairs, said on Monday that China would be crossing a "red line" by sending weapons to Russia.

China's possible support for Russia complicates the war in Ukraine ahead of Biden's trip to Europe

Feb 20, 202301:47

Wang responded on Tuesday that "relevant parties should not misinterpret or misjudge China's position, let alone blame China based on misinformation."

China says its political document on Ukraine will stress the importance of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as "taking seriously the legitimate security concerns of all countries, and supporting all efforts leading to a peaceful resolution of the crisis".

China has defended that its strategic partnership with Russia is based on non-alignment and non-confrontation, saying on Monday that the United States is "not qualified" to order China around in this regard.

An editorial Tuesday in the Global Times, a state-backed nationalist tabloid, said the United States and other Western countries were using the Ukraine conflict to try to "hijack" China-Russia relations.

The goal, he said, is "to put pressure on all normal interaction between China and Russia."

Kamala Harris accuses Russia of committing crimes against humanity in Ukraine

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China's position on the Ukraine conflict is one of "principled neutrality," said Zhu Feng, executive dean of Nanjing University's School of International Studies.

"On the one hand, China is opposed to the war and will not provide financial support or military equipment to Russia," he said.

“On the other hand, China will not follow in the footsteps of the United States and the West to impose sanctions on Russia,” he added.

Zhu said the Ukraine war had affected the Sino-Russian relationship a lot, "because Putin expects it to be a reliable partner but China, based on its own interests and values, does not provide military aid, which is disappointing for Putin." .

China is unlikely to change its stance under Russian pressure, Zhu said.

The war in Ukraine "has in fact been criticized by the vast majority of countries in the world, so China will not take the opposite side of world public opinion," she added.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2023-02-22

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