Diplomatic contacts between the Biden administration and China in an attempt to prevent a war began after President Biden and Mr Xi will take place video summit 15th of November. In conversation, the two leaders acknowledged problems in relations between their countries, which are at their lowest point in decades, but agreed to try to work together on issues of mutual interest, including health security, climate change and nuclear proliferation, White House officials said while.
After the meeting, US officials decided that the Russian troop build-up around Ukraine was the most pressing issue that China and the United States could try to solve together. Some officials believe that the results of the video summit indicate the potential for improvement in US-China relations. Others were more skeptical but felt it was important to do everything possible to prevent a Russian attack, one official said.
Understand Russia’s Attack on Ukraine
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What is at the heart of this invasion? Russia considers Ukraine a part his natural sphere of influence, and is unnerved by Ukraine’s proximity to the West and the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO or the European Union. Although Ukraine is not part of either, it receives financial and military assistance from the US and Europe.
Are these frictions just beginning now? Antagonism between the two countries has simmered since 2014, when Russian troops crossed into Ukraine after an uprising in Ukraine replaced a Russian-friendly president with a pro-Western government. Then, Russia annexed Crimea and inspired separatist movement in the east. A ceasefire was signed in 2015but fighting continued.
How did Ukraine react? February 23, Ukraine declared a state of emergency for 30 days. when cyberattacks took out state institutions. After the attacks began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky martial law declared. The foreign minister called the attacks a “full-scale invasion” and called on the world to “stop Putin.”
A few days later, White House officials met with Ambassador Qin Gang at the Chinese Embassy. They told the ambassador what the US intelligence agencies had recorded: the gradual encirclement of Ukraine by Russian troops, including armored units. William J. Burns, director of the CIA, flew to Moscow on November 2 to provide the Russians with the same information, and on November 17, representatives of American intelligence shared their findings with NATO.
In the Chinese embassy, Russian aggression became the first topic of discussion, which lasted more than an hour and a half. In addition to the intelligence presentation, White House officials told the ambassador that the United States would impose tough sanctions on Russian companies, officials and businessmen in the event of an invasion, far beyond those announced by the Obama administration after Russia took over Ukraine. Crimean peninsula in 2014.
US officials said the sanctions would also hurt China over time because of its commercial ties.
They also indicated that they knew how China helped Russia avoid some of the 2014 sanctions and cautioned Beijing against any such assistance in the future. And they argued that since China is widely viewed as Russia’s partner, its global image could suffer if Mr. Putin invades.
The message was clear: it is in China’s interest to convince Mr. Putin to step down. But their prayers came to nothing. Mr. Qin was skeptical and suspicious, the US official said.