State Department advises China to stop supporting Russia before Putin's visit

This was the response of US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel to a question about Vladimir Putin's planned visit to China, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The foreign ministry spokesman stated that if China purports to maintain good relations with Europe and other nations, it cannot persist in exacerbating the greatest threat to European security, namely Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

He stressed that this is not only the position of the United States, but also the G7 countries, NATO allies and the European Union.

Patel said that if China stops supporting Russia, it would become difficult for Russia to sustain the war against Ukraine. He emphasized that no country should provide Putin with a platform to pursue his aggressive war against Ukraine.

According to him, the United States and other Western countries cannot return to "business as usual" with Russia or turn a blind eye to its clear violations of international law.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin plans to pay a state visit to China on 16-17 May at the invitation of Xi Jinping.

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