Advertisement
US and Russian ambassadors to China clash over Ukraine war at Beijing forum
- US envoy Nicholas Burns says the ‘unprovoked’ invasion violates the UN Charter and dismisses Russia’s claims that Nato expansion was a threat
- But Moscow’s representative Andrey Denisov says the alliance is at war with Russia ‘by proxy’ and says Beijing can help act as a mediator
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
99+
The US and Russian ambassadors clashed over Ukraine in a rare joint appearance in Beijing on Monday.
Advertisement
Nicholas Burns, the United States ambassador, told the World Peace Forum in Beijing that Russia’s “unprovoked” invasion was “the greatest threat to the world order”.
“Russia’s war in Ukraine, the fact that Russia crossed the border with an armed force, unprovoked, and has started this war with so much human suffering, so many innocent civilians dead – this is a direct violation of the UN Charter,” the ambassador told the event, which was hosted by Tsinghua University.
He also warned that other countries were suffering because Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s ports had disrupted grain exports.
“There’s a food security crisis. It’s been compounded by this illegal, unjust and brutal war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine,” he said.
But Andrey Denisov, the Russian ambassador, who spoke after Burns, said he “totally disagreed” with the comments and his American counterpart had ignored the backdrop of Nato expansion.
Advertisement