Bond Between China and Russia Alarms U.S. and Europe Amid Ukraine Crisis

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Biden administration plans to build up global coalitions to counter a pact between Vladimir V. Putin and Xi Jinping, portending a new type of Cold War.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, left, and President Xi Jinping of China in Beijing this month. U.S. and European officials are troubled by what is effectively a nonaggression pact between China and Russia. | Li Tao/Xinhua, via Associated Press
WASHINGTON — When Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, called on Saturday for talks to resolve the crisis in Europe, he said Ukraine’s sovereignty should be “respected and safeguarded” — but also sided with Russia in saying that NATO enlargement was destabilizing the continent.

“If NATO keeps expanding eastward, is it conducive to maintaining peace and stability in Europe?” he said by video at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, which Vice President Kamala Harris was attending in person to rally countries against Russia.

It was the latest instance of what Western officials say is China taking a bold new swing at the United States and its allies by wading into European security issues to explicitly back Russia, which has amassed as many as 190,000 troops around Ukraine for a possible invasion — despite the fact Ukraine is not joining NATO anytime soon. » | Edward Wong | Sunday, February 20, 2022