(RightWing.org) – During the G20 (a.k.a. the “Group of Twenty” intergovernmental forum) that wrapped up on March 2 in New Delhi, India, a surprise meeting took place between high-ranking officials of two of the world’s superpowers. At the same time, a Russian diplomat was speaking at the Conference on Disarmament held at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Neither incident could be seen as promising a quick resolution of the war that followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Back off or Else!
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stepped up to a podium at the UN and delivered a warning aimed at the United States and NATO, accusing both of “fomenting [instigating violent sentiment about] the conflict in and around Ukraine.” He went on to claim the Western nations’ decisions to supply arms to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s military will lead to a direct confrontation between nuclear-capable countries that could have “catastrophic consequences.”
Russia’s state-run news agency TASS published an article about the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), quoting Ryabkov as accusing NATO countries of “war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.” This stands in stark contrast to comments made just a few days earlier by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who said Putin’s actions had “effectively paralyzed” the UN Security Council and accused his military of causing “terrible suffering… [and] conflict-related sexual violence against men, women and girls.”
Meanwhile, at the G20 summit, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken had an unscheduled meeting with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, the first time the two had spoken face-to-face since Putin launched the war. According to a transcript available on the State Department website, Blinken indicated he “urged Russia to reverse its irresponsible decision” to withdraw from the New START Treaty on nuclear arms and spoke to them about the situation of American Paul Whelan, who has been in a Russian prison for years.
Looming in the background of all this is a dragon, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and uncertainty about how they might approach the relationship with Russia, considering the Communist ideological bond between the two countries. Over the past several years, they have stepped up their aggression towards Taiwan and the rest of the South China Sea, which they claim as their sovereign territory. This could take on a much deeper meaning if Western fears of China sending military aid to the Kremlin come to pass.
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