NATO Chief Raps China For Coddling Russia As Sanctions Bite

NATO’s chief has called out China for being “unwilling to condemn Russia's aggression,” accusing it of “joining Moscow in questioning the right of nations to choose their own path,” Amy Cassidy and James Frater reported for CNN.

Photo Insert: Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was addressing reporters in Brussels ahead of a summit of NATO foreign ministers plus Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was addressing reporters in Brussels ahead of a summit of NATO foreign ministers plus Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, which will take place on Wednesday, April 6.

Before the invasion of Ukraine began, allies China and Russia proclaimed their friendship had "no limits." But Beijing has since been quietly distancing itself from Russia's sanction-hit economy.

While refusing to condemn Russia's attack on Ukraine, China has repeatedly denounced sanctions against Moscow as an ineffective way of resolving the crisis.

However, China has been hesitating to defy sanctions against Russia and its companies have demurred in investing more cash in Russian ventures, and Chinese banks have been reluctant to deal in handling dollar transactions with Russian banks under pain of being sanctioned themselves.

Russia’s $630 billion reserves, painstakingly hoarded since sanctions were slapped against the economy for the annexation of Crimea in 2014, are diminishing fast.

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