BEIJING —
Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against “expanding” military ties on
Wednesday in a speech ahead of a virtual summit with top leaders from Russia,
India, Brazil, and South Africa.
اضافة اعلان
Beijing is hosting
the meeting of the influential club of BRICS emerging economies, which accounts
for more than 40 percent of the global population and nearly a quarter of the
world’s gross domestic product.
Three of its
members — China, India, and South Africa — have abstained from voting on a UN
resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Xi told the BRICS
business forum that the “Ukraine crisis is ... a wake-up call” and warned
against “expanding military alliances and seeking one’s own security at the
expense of other countries’ security”.
China and India
have strong military links with Russia and buy large amounts of its oil and
gas.
In a call last
week, Xi assured his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that China would
support Moscow’s core interests in “sovereignty and security” — leading the US
to warn Beijing that it risked ending up “on the wrong side of history”.
South Africa, one
of the few African countries wielding diplomatic influence outside the
continent, has also not condemned the Russian military action.
Xi took a swipe at
US and EU sanctions on Russia in the speech on Wednesday, saying “sanctions are
a boomerang and a double-edged sword”.
Leaders of the
Group of Seven nations will meet next
week in Germany to discuss how to proceed with sanctions against Russia.
The BRICS summit
takes place as Russian troops continue to pummel eastern Ukraine after invading
the country four months ago.
China and India
have both ramped up crude oil imports from Russia, helping to offset losses
from Western nations scaling back Russian energy purchases.
India bought six
times more Russian oil from March to May compared with the same period last
year, while imports by China during that period tripled, data from research
firm Rystad Energy shows.
Once bitter Cold War rivals, Beijing and Moscow have stepped
up cooperation in recent years.
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