China pledges support for Russia in phone call with Putin

• A spokeswoman for the State Department stated, “China claims to be neutral, but its behaviour makes clear that it is still investing in close ties to Russia.
• President Xi Jinping assured Vladimir Putin of China’s support for Russian “sovereignty and security” on Wednesday, prompting Washington
• “It was the second reported phone call between the two leaders since February 24, when Putin invaded Ukraine.

President Xi Jinping assured Vladimir Putin of China’s support for Russian “sovereignty and security” on Wednesday, prompting Washington to warn Beijing it risked being on “the wrong side of history.”

China has declined to denounce Russia’s major military assault on Ukraine and has been accused of giving diplomatic cover for Moscow by criticising Western sanctions and arms deliveries to Kyiv.

Read more: China advises Russia that all parties should work together to resolve Ukraine crisis

It was the second reported phone call between the two leaders since February 24, when Putin invaded Ukraine.

According to CCTV, Xi praised the “good momentum of development” in bilateral relations since the start of the year, “in the face of turmoil and change around the world.”

Xi allegedly stated that Beijing was eager to “intensify strategic coordination between the two countries.”

In response to “illegal” Western sanctions, the Kremlin reported that the two presidents agreed to expand economic cooperation.

According to a Kremlin statement following the phone call, “It was agreed to expand cooperation in the energy, financial, industrial, transport and other areas, taking into account the situation in the global economy that has become more complicated due to the unlawful sanctions policy of the West.”

Read more: Putin talks about  the Kremlin, ravaged by sanctions, hosts a “Russian Davos” devoid of any elite

A spokeswoman for the State Department stated, “China claims to be neutral, but its behaviour makes clear that it is still investing in close ties to Russia.”

The official stated that Washington was “monitoring China’s activity closely,” noting how, nearly four months into Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Asian behemoth was “still echoing Russian propaganda throughout the world” and insinuating that Moscow’s atrocities in Ukraine were “staged.”

“Nations that side with Vladimir Putin will inevitably find themselves on the wrong side of history.”