'Condemn Russia's barbarism': Zelenskyy's aide says China should make the right decision

Mykhailo Podolyak, the adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that China can be the global security system's important element if it makes the right decision to support the civilised countries' coalition and condemn Russia's barbarism amid the invasion of Ukraine.

"It is a chance to sit at the table as equals. The West must explain to Beijing how $1.6 trillion differs from $150 billion," Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

China has tried to distance itself from President Vladimir Putin's attack on Ukraine after Russia's military offensive and avoided condemning Moscow. On several occasions, Beijing has backed Russia's claim that Ukraine was running chemical and biological weapons labs with US assistance.

Notably, China fueled Russian claims earlier this month that the US is funding research into the development of biological weapons in Ukraine and called for an investigation. The United States retaliated by accusing China of spreading a conspiracy theory and escalating a dispute over public perceptions of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Chinese envoy says NATO shouldn't expand east

A Chinese diplomat, on Saturday said, that NATO should stick to what he claimed was a promise not to expand eastward. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Le Yucheng, criticised the far-reaching West sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine and said the root cause of the war in Ukraine “lies in the Cold War mentality and power politics.”

Echoing a Kremlin talking point, the Chinese envoy said if NATO's “enlargement goes further, it would be approaching the ‘outskirts of Moscow’ where a missile could hit the Kremlin within seven or eight minutes."

“Pushing a major country, especially a nuclear power, to the corner would entail repercussions too dreadful to contemplate,” he said.

He expressed an understanding for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s oft-repeated position, saying that NATO should have disintegrated and “been consigned to history alongside the Warsaw Pact.”

“However, rather than breaking up, NATO has kept strengthening and expanding, and intervened militarily in countries like Yugoslavia, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan,” he said. “One could well anticipate the consequences going down this path. The crisis in Ukraine is a stern warning.”

He said Chinese President Xi Jinping in talks with U.S. President Joe Biden, on Friday, urged the parties in Ukraine to demonstrate “political will and keep the dialogue and negotiation going. The U.S. and NATO should also have dialogue with Russia to address the crux of the Ukraine crisis and ease the security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine.”

(With AP inputs)