China's UN ambassador: Moscow and Beijing declaration of friendship is "nothing but rhetoric"

This was stated by the Chinese ambassador to the EU, Fu Cong, The New York Times reports.

According to the Chinese diplomat, some people deliberately misinterpret China-Russia relations. The ambassador played down the significance of last year's declaration of “limitless friendship” signed by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“‘No limit’ is nothing but rhetoric,” he said.

The official noted that Beijing does not support the Russian invasion of Ukraine and does not recognize the annexation of the occupied territories.

Beijing has not condemned the invasion, he said, because it understood Russia’s claims about a defensive war against NATO encroachment, and because his government believes “the root causes are more complicated” than Western leaders say. 

The diplomat also explained that Xi Jinping did not talk with Zelenskyy because he is “very busy”, that there were frequent lower-level contacts between the two countries.

"The fact that President Xi is not speaking to Zelenskyy does not signify that China is on the side of Russia on the Ukrainian issue," Fu Cong stressed.

• On March 29, Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited Xi Jinping to visit Ukraine.

• On March 29, the Chinese Foreign Ministry positively evaluated Volodymyr Zelenskyy's invitation to visit Ukraine.