Ursula von der Leyen calls on “the European Council to live up to the historical responsibility”

Beijing’s thinly veiled support for Moscow

During an online speech on the sidelines of the virtual summit of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), a group of emerging economies that represent more than 40% of the world’s population and almost a quarter of the GDP of the planet, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, addressed a criticism to the supports of Ukraine.

“Humanity has known the ravages of two world wars and the dark fog of Cold War confrontation”said Xi Jinping, according to the official New China News Agency. “This painful history shows that the confrontation between hegemonic blocs (…) will not bring peace or security, only war and strife”he pointed out. “The crisis in Ukraine is another wake-up call for the world: blind faith in a position of strength, the enlargement of military alliances and the pursuit of one’s own security at the expense of the security of other countries inevitably lead to a security deadlock. »

These statements seem, on the part of the Chinese president, to refer to NATO and the United States. China refuses to use the word “invasion” to describe the Russian intervention. It places most of the responsibility on the United States, accused of pushing NATO to expand ever further towards Russia.

For his part, Vladimir Putin advocated strengthening ties between Brics countries: “The businessmen of our countries are forced to develop their activities in difficult conditions, because the Western partners neglect the basic principles of the market economy, of free trade”, did he declare. He denounced “the permanent introduction of new politically motivated sanctions” which contradict “Elementary economic common sense and logic”. In this context, Russia is in the process of “Actively redirect its trade flows and external economic contacts towards reliable international partners, above all towards the BRICS countries”stressed Mr. Putin.

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