Ukraine crisis: US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken presses Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Beijing’s stance
- The two top diplomats discuss the war in a call as Blinken notes ‘the world is watching’
- Wang says that Beijing supports negotiations between Russia and Ukraine
Washington’s top diplomat pressed his counterpart in Beijing during a call on Saturday over China’s continued refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The call between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was the latest of Washington’s ongoing efforts to put some diplomatic pressure on China over its stance on the war.
“The Secretary noted the world is watching to see which nations stand up for the basic principles of freedom, self-determination and sovereignty,” said Ned Price, the State Department spokesman.
“He underscored that the world is acting in unison to repudiate and respond to the Russian aggression, ensuring that Moscow will pay a high price,” Price said.
As the fighting in Ukraine rages into a second weekend, with thousands already dead including civilians and children, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been facing growing suspicion from Washington and its allies over how much he knew of Moscow’s plans to initiate a war in advance, and whether he gave Russian leader Vladimir Putin his tacit support to go ahead with the attack.