After a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the United States blasted at Beijing saying that the country cannot have it “both ways”.
Russia is actively seeking China’s support amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and increasing Western sanctions. China has maintained a diplomatic stance that supports Russia, advocating against sanctions at international forums like the United Nations and encouraging a resolution to the conflict.
However, this support is balanced with China’s desire to maintain economic ties with the West.
These remarks come in a press briefing held by State Department’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel on Thursday (May 16) as he responds on how the US sees comments by China where Xi Jinping agreed to a ‘political solution’ to Ukraine war and termed Russia-China ties as ‘stabilising’ for the world.
China “can’t want to have good, further, stronger, deepened relationships with Europe and other countries while simultaneously continuing to fuel the biggest threat to European security in a long time,” Patel said in his response adding, it “cannot have its cake and eat it too.”
He said this is what the US position has been, shared by G7, NATO partners, and partners in the EU.
Speaking over China’s alleged supply of weapons to Russia amid the war in Ukraine that US has been warning against, Patel said, “Fueling Russia’s defence industrial base, as the People’s Republic of China has, not only threatens Ukrainian security, it threatens European security, and Beijing can’t achieve better relations with Europe while also continuing to support something like that.”
“From our point of view, the solution is simple: The Russian Federation can just leave Ukraine. It can leave the territories that it’s in in Ukraine, it can leave Crimea, and we’ll have our peaceful solution. But time and time and time again, President Putin and the Russian Federation have indicated that they are not interested in doing that.”
‘We don’t see anything new here’
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in her comments on Xi Jinping’s meeting with Vladimir Putin at the summit in Beijing where both the leaders pledged to deepen their strategic partnership in a joint declaration, said, “Look, we don’t see anything new here.”
(With inputs from agencies)