The UK government pleaded with Communist dictator Xi Jinping to ask Vladimir Putin to stop “some” of the atrocities Russia is accused of inflicting on Ukraine.
Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) supremo, is in Moscow for a high-level summit with President Vladimir Putin, despite significant pressure from the West not to deepen ties with or engage in outright support for Russia as its “special military operation” in Ukraine continues.
“China has spoken previously about the importance of respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity in Ukraine,” said the Official Spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in response to the trip.
“We would like to see President Xi advocate for this point when he speaks to Putin. This war and its assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty could end today if Russia withdrew its troops from Ukraine,” they added, in what detractors of British diplomacy might describe as a statement of the obvious.
“So we hope President Xi uses this opportunity to press President Putin to cease bombing Ukrainian cities, hospitals, schools, and to halt some of these atrocities that we are seeing on a daily basis.”
In many ways, Xi’s visit to Russia is a rebuke to the West, which has recently warned China not to engage in more overt support for the Kremlin.
Peking (Beijing) officially opposes the war, but in practise it has been carrying water for Moscow, with officials openly declaring that the “real threat” to world peace is the United States shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last February.
The European Union, like America, has been at pains to warn Beijing that supplying weapons to Russia would cross a “red line” and have “consequences” — though it has since been claimed that Chinese companies, including a large state-owned defence contractor, have been shipping materiel to Russia, with no sign of truly significant “consequences” following the revelations.
Other key Western partners, such as Israel, India, and NATO member Turkey, have refrained from joining the Western sanctions war against Russia, and in some cases have used the economic conflict to strengthen their own positions.