NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — The president of the European Council on Tuesday urged world powers, including China, Moscow’s biggest supporter, to step up pressure on Russia over its war with Ukraine, saying this week’s He said a meeting of the world’s biggest economies would be essential to stop pressure on Moscow.
Speaking to reporters on the opening day of the G20 meeting in Bali, Charles Michel said the nine-month war waged by Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has affected the world, including food and energy prices. He said it disrupted his life. Explosive, economy stagnates.
“Russian wars affect us all wherever we live, from Europe to Africa to the Middle East. End this senseless war and respect the UN Charter,” Michel said. “The Kremlin has decided to weaponize food, fueling hunger, poverty and insecurity.”
Michel says Europe is helping Ukraine, which was a big food exporter before the war, boost its shipments, and is also trying to deal with disruptions in fertilizer supplies and rising prices. EU sanctions against Russia do not cover agricultural products, he said.
“This is not Russia’s fight against the West of the world. It is a fight for the Charter of the United Nations. It is a fight over international law. This is an acceptable attempt to change internationally recognized borders by force.” It’s a battle over the idea of no.”
Michel said he had no plans to meet with Russia’s top official in Bali, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, has largely refrained from public criticism of Russia’s war, but Beijing has avoided direct assistance to Russia, such as by supplying arms. When asked if Beijing was showing signs of changing its steadfast support for Russia in recent days, Michel avoided direct criticism of China.
Instead, he said Tuesday and Wednesday’s G-20 meetings will be crucial to convincing all countries present to “put more pressure on Russia.”
After a meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, Biden said that the two leaders discussed a Russian attack on Ukraine and that the use or even the threat of nuclear weapons was “totally unacceptable” and that “our common I reaffirmed my belief in With the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian government’s thinly veiled threat to use nuclear weapons has abated.
Michel said Europe must ensure an economic and political relationship with China that is distinct from its relationship with Russia.
“We don’t want to make the same mistake as Russia about the fossil fuels that Europe was so dependent on.” That’s why it’s so important to recalibrate the relationship,” Michelle said.