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BEIJING (LifeSiteNews) — Chinese President Xi Jinping “supports the Russian side” as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bombing and invasion of Ukraine continues, according to a phone conversation between the two authoritarian leaders Friday.
Reuters reports that Putin told Xi his offensive against Ukraine was meant to prevent a “genocide,” a claim the Chinese government appears willing to endorse. At the same time, Putin claimed he was willing to begin negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian diplomats in Minsk, Belarus.
The Chinese state-sponsored newspaper People’s Daily reported Friday that Xi “said China supports the Russian side in solving the issue through negotiation with the Ukrainian side.”
#BREAKING: Chinese President Xi Jinping had a phone talk with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Xi said China supports the Russian side in solving the issue through negotiation with the Ukrainian side. pic.twitter.com/vH1EdT0sLN
— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) February 25, 2022
Fox News offers more details on the conversation, including that the Chinese foreign ministry relayed Putin’s assertion that “the United States and NATO have long turned a blind eye to Russia’s legitimate security concerns,” and that Xi takes “seriously and respect[s] the reasonable security concerns of all countries.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has elicited vigorous debate over whether President Joe Biden’s softer approach to the Kremlin than former President Donald Trump’s emboldened Russia to act, as well as divided American conservatives as to what interest, if any, the United States has in the outcome.
Xi’s latest comments appear to reinforce an observation made Wednesday by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).
“We really got to remain focused on China,” Rubio told Fox’s Jesse Watters. “This is an important thing, because I think that China’s watching this and if we live in a world where a country can decide, ‘Hey, that land belongs to us,’ and give you some two-hour history lesson, which is a bunch of nonsense, and then go in and take it, you know, you’re going to see that happen in other places.”
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