Blinken: Beijing’s Stance on Ukraine ‘Doesn’t Add Up’

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi during the weeklong United Nations General Assembly in New York, and told reporters afterward that Beijing's stance on Ukraine doesn't match its actions.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), meanwhile, has repeatedly rejected calls to condemn Russia for its war efforts.

In a separate statement, Wang said the CCP has always supported the idea of peace talks, and accused the United States of "smearing and planting evidence against China."

Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine presented a peace plan based on international conventions two years ago, which Russia rejected.

"The peace formula has already existed for two years, and maybe somebody wants a Nobel Prize for their political biography, for [a] frozen truce, instead of real peace, but the only prizes Putin will give you in return are more suffering and disasters," Zelenskyy told the United Nations General Assembly.

Blinken told reporters the United States' position was not to "decouple Russia from China."

"Their relationship is their business. But insofar as that relationship involves providing Russia what it needs to continue this war, that's a problem and it's a problem for us and it's a problem for many other countries, notably in Europe, because right now Russia presents the greatest threat, not just to Ukrainian security, but to European security since the end of the Cold War," he said.

He noted that nearly 70 percent of Russia's machine tools imports and 90 percent of microelectronics were coming through China and Hong Kong.

"This is materially helping the Russians produce the missiles, the rockets, the armored vehicles, the munitions that they need to perpetuate the war, to continue their aggression," Blinken said.