At the podium of the United Nations | China and India call for a negotiated exit from the war in Ukraine

(United Nations) China and India on Saturday called from the UN rostrum for a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine, without offering their support to isolated Russia, which has fulminated against the “grotesque Russophobia” of the West.

“We call on all parties concerned to prevent the crisis from overflowing and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the UN General Assembly.

“The priority is to facilitate peace negotiations”, he insisted, calling for “fair and pragmatic” discussions for a “peaceful resolution of the crisis”.

China is officially neutral, but sometimes accused by Westerners of being too conciliatory with Russia, even if American officials expressed measured hopes after Beijing’s declarations this week at the UN.

The Chinese minister also met in New York with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kouleba, assuring him that Beijing called for respecting “the territorial integrity of all countries”.

Last week, after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Mr. Xi’s “balanced position” on Ukraine, but also said he “understands (his) questions and (his) concerns”. on this subject.

Asked during a press conference about possible pressure from China on his country to put an end to this war, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov kicked into touch: “You can say […] that I avoided answering your question.

A few minutes earlier, during his speech to the General Assembly, he launched an all-out attack on the West, which all the leaders who have marched to the rostrum since the start of the week have criticized in the most stronger Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Official Russophobia in the West is unprecedented, its scale is grotesque,” Sergei Lavrov said.

“They do not hesitate to declare their intention not only to inflict a military defeat on our country, but also to destroy Russia”, he added, attacking more directly the United States which “is trying to make the whole world their backyard”.

“By declaring itself victorious in the Cold War, Washington has set itself up almost as an envoy of God on Earth, without any duty, but with the sacred right to act with impunity anywhere and anytime,” said Mr Lavrov.

During the press conference, he did not spare the European Union either, which he accused of becoming “authoritarian and dictatorial”.

He also defended the annexation “referendums” underway in several regions of Ukraine under Russian control, describing populations recovering “the land where their ancestors lived for hundreds of years”. And “now the West is having a fit,” he quipped.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar pleaded for “dialogue and diplomacy”. “As the conflict in Ukraine rages, we are often asked which side we are on. And our response, every time, is direct and honest. India is on the side of peace and will stay there firmly”.

Rare support shown towards Moscow, Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga, acting Prime Minister of Mali appointed by the junta, praised Saturday at the podium “the exemplary and fruitful cooperation relations between Mali and Russia”.