No reason for Ukraine war fears, China tells UN meeting
- Chinese envoy takes aim at US at special session in apparent show of support for Russia
- Washington is blocking efforts to end crisis through talks, Zhang Jun says
“Russia has repeatedly stated that it has no plans to launch any military action. And Ukraine has made it clear that it does not need a war. Under such circumstances, what is the basis for the countries concerned to insist that there would be a war?” Zhang said at the meeting requested by the US.
“What is urgently needed now is quiet diplomacy, not megaphone diplomacy. Regrettably, the US did not accept such a constructive proposal.”
On Monday, US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of endangering peace by deploying the troops and said the situation was “urgent and dangerous”.
Russian envoy Vasily Nebenzia hit back, saying the US was “whipping up tensions and provoking escalation” and insisted that Russia did not plan to invade Ukraine.
In remarks seen as backing Russia, Zhang said China could not agree with the US that Russia’s deployment of troops posed a threat to international peace and security.
“At a time when dialogue and negotiations are under way, and concrete progress has yet to be made, the holding of such an open meeting by the council is clearly not conducive to creating a favourable environment for dialogue and negotiations, nor is it conducive to defusing the tensions,” he said.
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Observers said Beijing was unlikely to get involved as a participant or mediator, and preferred calling for the crisis to be resolved through diplomacy.
With close ties to both Moscow and Kyiv, Beijing has avoided directly endorsing Russia or Ukraine over the past weeks.
Relations between China and Russia have become close to forming a “de facto alliance” over the years, with the two nations vowing to step up cooperation in space, defence and politics to offset US pressure.
Zhang said the Ukraine crisis should be resolved through consultations on an equal footing on the basis of mutual respect and fully taking into account each other’s legitimate security concerns.
“The expansion of Nato is a problem difficult to circumvent in handling the current tension,” he said.
“Nato is the product of the Cold War, and Nato expansion epitomises bloc politics. We believe that the security of one country should not be achieved at the expense of the security of other countries.”