Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry responds to China’s claim: Russia alone is responsible for aggression

UKRAINSKA PRAVDA – WEDNESDAY, 20 JULY 2022, 16:04

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said in response to a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Russia alone is responsible for the armed aggression against Ukraine.

Source: Oleh Nikolenko, press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, speaking to Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "The Russian Federation alone bears responsibility for the armed aggression against Ukraine. It was Russia who occupied Crimea and part of Donbas in 2014 and started a full-scale war totally unprovoked.

It’s important to face the truth: the international community has been forced to introduce sanctions against Russia to deprive it of the means to keep fighting the war and to hold it accountable for the crimes that have been committed."

Details: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expects that China, as a responsible member of the international community that stands for peace and respect for international law, "will not turn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine into a political issue."

Quote: "We expect Beijing to use its influence on Moscow to convince it to stop the war and go back to respecting the UN Statute and international law, the fundamental principles of which are non-use of force and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries."

Background: On 19 July, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, claimed that the US is to blame for the "Ukraine crisis" and is the biggest factor fuelling it.