Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation
Published: March 14,2022
By Staff writer
A truck convoy loaded up with Chinese aid destined for western Ukraine prepares to leave Romania. [Photo/Chinese embassy in Romania]
China has maintained that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine should be solved through negotiations to reach a common understanding. President Xi reached out to his Russian counterpart president Putin, mentioning that it is important to, “abandon the Cold War mentality, attach importance to and respect the reasonable security concerns of all countries, and form a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through negotiations,” according to media reports.
On his part, although the Russian president said that Russia is willing to conduct high-level negotiations with Ukraine, he cautioned that, “The United States and NATO have long ignored Russia’s reasonable security concerns, repeatedly reneged on their commitments, and continued to advance military deployment eastward, challenging Russia’s strategic bottom line,” Putin told Xi, according to CCTV.
Xi said China was “willing to work with all parties in the international community to advocate a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept, and firmly safeguard the international system with the United Nations at the core.”
Despite having a strong diplomatic relationship with Russia, China has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine including 1,000 family kits containing daily supplies worth $800,000. The packs contain blankets, towels, cutlery, damp-proof mats, buckets and torches, to help refugees and displaced Ukrainians. The humanitarian aid was sent by the Red Cross Society of China. This is a manifestation of China’s neutrality and humanitarian approach to the Russian-Ukraine crisis.
To the contrary, U.S. and NATO seem to be escalating the war by supplying arms to Ukraine. On February 26, President Biden announced $350 million in military aid for Ukraine. The package also includes Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, anti-armor weapons, small arms, body armor, and other equipment, according to a senior US Defense Official. Last year, the Biden administration had already provided $650 million in military aid to Ukraine. The sanctions imposed by US and NATO against Russia will only serve to hurt millions of innocent people in the world including those in US and Europe.
The United Kingdom defence secretary Ben Wallace told British MPs recently, that before the invasion,Britain delivered 2,000 light anti-tank missiles and is sending another 1,615. “UK would also deliver a small consignment of longer range Javelin missiles and was looking at sending surface-to-air missiles. Small arms, body armour and medical supplies have also been sent,” Wallace added.
In March 2007, when the Russian president addressed the annual Munich security conference, he warned that, “Nato has put its frontline forces on our borders.” He further observed that Nato expansion, “represents a serious provocation that reduces the level of mutual trust. And we have the right to ask: against whom is this expansion is intended? And what happened to the assurances our western partners made after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact?”
In his memoir, Duty, Robert M Gates, who served as secretary of defence in both George Bush and Barrack Obama governments, warned that, “The relationship with Russia had been badly mismanaged after George HW Bush left office in 1993.”He cited a number of miscalculations by the U.S administration, which included US agreement with Romania and Bulgaria governments to rotate US troops through those countries. Robert Gates described the act as needless provocation against Russia. Gates also told the US administration that, “trying to bring Georgia and Ukraine into NATO was truly overreaching.” The move he further said was a case of “recklessly ignoringwhat the Russians considered their own vital national interests.”
There is no justification of what U.S and NATO are doing in Eastern Europe. The Transatlantic military alliance has only compromised its own interests and strategic standing in Eurasia. The war between Russia and Ukraine could have been avoided, if U.S and NATO cared to listen to Russia’s security concerns.
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