China on Friday lashed out at the United States for allegedly instigating the Russia-Ukraine conflict and blamed it for the expansion of NATO, a military alliance of western countries, to protect itself from the aggression of any nation. “As the culprit and leading instigator of the Ukraine crisis, the US has led NATO to engage in five rounds of eastward expansion in the last two decades after 1999,” foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters at a daily briefing.
“The number of NATO members increased from 16 to 30, and they have moved eastward more than 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) to somewhere near the Russian border, pushing Russia to the wall step by step,” he added.
Living under the shadow of Russia, Ukraine has long expressed its wish to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), a military alliance of Western countries, to protect itself from aggression from any nation. Russia, which Ukraine on February 24, has demanded that Ukraine renounce the demand and declare itself neutral.
While the West has been seeking to isolate Russia over Ukraine, China has distanced itself from the pressure by refraining from condemning the violence. It has also opposed the crippling sanctions by the US and the West. On Friday too, Zhao said China disapproves of “solving problems through sanctions.”
“China disapproves of solving problems through sanctions, and we are even more opposed to unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that have no basis in international law,” Zhao said.
China also routinely amplifies Russian disinformation about the conflict, including not referring to it as an invasion or a war in keeping with Russian practice.
The comments come that the leaders of the Chinese and European Union are set to hold a virtual summit, which is likely to be dominated by discussions on Ukraine.
