China called the U.S. the "leading instigator" of the
ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine on Friday. During a daily press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said, "As the culprit and the leading instigator of the Ukraine crisis, the US has led
NATO in pursuing five rounds of eastward expansions in the next two decades or so since 1999." "NATO's membership has increased from 16 to 30 countries and the organization moved over 1000 kilometers eastward to somewhere near Russia's borders, pushing the latter to the wall," Zhao added.
The comments by Zhao come as war has continued to rage in Ukraine after Russian military forces invaded the neighboring nation last month. Amid the ongoing fighting between the two, the U.S. and Western nations involved in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have continued to condemn Russia, imposing sanctions on a number of different aspects of the Russian economy.
While the U.S. and NATO members have condemned Russia and President
Vladimir Putin, China has yet to take a concrete side on the issues,
calling for peace between the two nations.
