Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Foto: REUTERS/ SCANPIX/ LETA
Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Yuchen on Saturday rejected NATO’s expansion to the east and criticized Western sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
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He also said that the causes of Ukraine’s war were to be found in the “Cold War mentality and power politics”.
According to Le, if NATO’s expansion to the east continues, the alliance will approach “Moscow’s suburbs, where a missile can reach the Kremlin in seven to eight minutes.”
“Putting a big country in the corner, especially if it’s a nuclear state, can have such dire consequences that you wouldn’t even want to think about it,” said China’s deputy foreign minister.
He also expressed his understanding of the position expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the North Atlantic Alliance should have ceased to exist and “remain in history like the Warsaw Pact.”
“But NATO did not disintegrate, but strengthened, expanded and carried out military intervention in countries such as Yugoslavia, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan,” Le said.
“It was already foreseeable what could be expected as we continued down this path, and the crisis in Ukraine is a stern warning.”
According to the deputy minister, Chinese President Xin Jining, in talks with US President Joe Baiden on Friday, called on the parties to the conflict in Ukraine to “show political will and maintain dialogue”.
According to him, the United States and NATO should also engage in dialogue with Russia, “addressing the nature of the crisis in Ukraine and helping to allay security concerns in both Russia and Ukraine.”
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