US urges Beijing to use its influence with Moscow to de-escalate situation in Ukraine
The United States is calling on Beijing to use its influence with Moscow to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine amid Russia’s military buildup and ongoing threat of invasion, Victoria Nuland, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, said during a press briefing on Jan. 27.
The United States is calling on Beijing to use its influence with Moscow to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine amid Russia’s military buildup and ongoing threat of invasion, Victoria Nuland, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, said during a press briefing on Jan. 27.
She said U.S. Secretary of State Secretary Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had discussed this issue during a Jan. 27 phone conversation.
“...Our messages to Beijing have been very clear,” Nuland said. “We’re calling on Beijing to use its influence with Moscow to urge diplomacy, because if there is a conflict in Ukraine it’s not going to be good for China either.”
“There will be a significant impact on the global economy,” she continued. “There’ll be a significant impact in the energy sphere. And it will be all the harder for all of us to get back to what we should be doing, which is building back better.”
Russia has been massing troops at the Russian-Ukrainian border since late October.
More than 127,000 Russian troops and offensive weapons have been deployed near Ukraine’s borders and in the temporarily occupied parts of the country, according to the latest intelligence estimate from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
International media have speculated that Russia may invade Ukraine in early 2022, in an operation that could involve up to 175,000 Russian soldiers.
Both U.S. and European officials have expressed concern over the situation. U.S. President Joe Biden in December declared that the White House was working out “the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do.”
The proposed measures include cutting Russia off from the SWIFT international banking system, personal sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle, and a ban on U.S. dollar transactions with Russia.
On Jan. 14, the U.K.-based Guardian newspaper and the U.S.-based CNN news channel reported that Russia had positioned covert operatives in Ukraine to carry out a “false flag” operation to use as a pretext for a Russian attack.
While Russia has denied plans to invade, it has also refused to provide assurances that it would not do so, instead demanding that it be provided with “security guarantees” by the United States and NATO.
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