Ukraine crisis: US ‘warning’ China, Putin rally justifies attack

More than three weeks have passed since Russia’s “special military action” in Ukraine. Russia’s attack on different cities of Ukraine continues. Meanwhile, on Friday, March 18, for the first time, direct talks were held between the two superpowers America and China on this issue. According to the international news agency AFP, there was a nearly two-hour long conversation between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the issue of Ukraine. During this, the US warned China of “results” for supporting Russia in any way against Ukraine. The White House declined to give further details about this.

It is clear from this ‘warning’ that the dispute between the US and China over Russia and Ukraine has not ended. According to the Financial Times report, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that America has many options, including imposing sanctions. He told the media,

“Next week President Biden will travel to Europe for a meeting with NATO, European Union and G-7 leaders to discuss Western responses to the issue.”

“The loss of common people due to sanctions”

During the conversation here, Xi Jinping criticized the economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the US and its allies. According to the Financial Times report, the Chinese president told Biden that he should take a “quiet and reasonable” path on the Ukraine issue. Jinping said,

“The United States and China must share international responsibilities and work for world peace. Such restrictions will only harm the common people. If these are increased further, there could be serious crises in the global economy and sectors like trade, supply chain, energy, industry.

According to the report of China’s state media CCTV, Jinping said that war is not in anyone’s interest and relations between the countries should not reach the level of military fighting. However, China did not directly criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin for attacking Ukraine during this period. China’s Foreign Ministry said that the US and NATO should also hold talks with Russia on the Ukraine crisis. China has taken a neutral stand on this issue from the beginning and has also stayed away from voting against Russia in the United Nations.

Putin’s big rally

On the other hand, on March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed a big rally in Moscow. This rally was organized on the completion of 8 years of the annexation of Crimea to Russia. In the rally, Putin repeatedly justified the steps taken in relation to Ukraine. Putin has been calling the attack on Ukraine a “special military action” by Russia. During the rally, Putin said,

“The country had not seen such unity for a long time. This operation was necessary in Ukraine because America was using this country to threaten Russia.

Zelensky proposed talks

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has once again appealed for talks with Russia. He said that Ukraine has always offered to find a solution to peace and security without delay. He also accused Russian troops of deliberately blocking humanitarian aid being sent to the cities. Zelensky said in a video address,

“The time has come for talks. This is the only chance for Russia to undo the damage caused by its mistakes. It’s time for Ukraine to take back territorial integrity and get justice. Otherwise, Russia will suffer such a loss that it will take many generations to recover from it.”

Russia launched an attack on Ukraine on 24 February. After this, talks between the two countries were also held several times, but no solution could be found. The US and European countries also announced a number of economic sanctions on Russia. Despite this, Russia’s attack continues. According to the United Nations, more than 700 civilians have died in the war so far, including 52 children. At the same time, more than 32 lakh people have left Ukraine and have taken refuge in other countries since the attack. In which maximum 19.75 lakh people have gone to Poland. Apart from this, millions of people have been forced to take refuge in neighboring countries such as Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, Hungary.