China’s President Xi Jinping said he supported solving the Ukraine crisis through talks in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, state media said Friday after Moscow launched an invasion of its neighbor. In a readout of the call on state broadcaster CCTV, Xi pointed out that the “situation in eastern Ukraine has undergone rapid changes… (and) China supports Russia and Ukraine to resolve the issue through negotiation”.
Russian forces have launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, unleashing airstrikes and sending troops deep into the country, after weeks of diplomatic efforts failed to deter Putin from launching the military operation. Beijing has trod a cautious diplomatic line on the crisis and refused to call it an “invasion” or condemn the actions of Russia, its close ally.
Xi said on the call with Putin it was important to “abandon the Cold War mentality, attach importance to and respect the reasonable security concerns of all countries, and form a balanced,…