Ukrainian Ambassador to France Vadym Omelchenko reacted to the words of the Chinese diplomat. He suggested that the Chinese colleague has gaps in the field of geography.
Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Chaye expressed doubts about the legitimacy of the sovereignty of the former republics that were part of the USSR. The Chinese diplomat said that the former Soviet republics do not have “an effective status in international law” because there is no relevant international agreement that would ratify their status. This is reported by the French TV channel LCI.
During an interview with French journalists, he also raised the issue of the status of Crimea and said that the issue of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula can be viewed in two ways, since it was supposedly originally Russian.
Reaction of diplomats
The Ukrainian side, as well as the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reacted to Lu Shaye’s scandalous statements. Thus, Ukrainian Ambassador to France Vadim Omelchenko noted that the Chinese diplomat probably has gaps in knowledge of geography, and his position does not coincide with the official position of the Chinese leadership regarding the situation in Ukraine.
“Either there are obvious problems with geography. Or such statements contradict Beijing’s position regarding efforts to establish peace in Ukraine based on international law, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” Omelchenko wrote on Twitter.
For his part, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told Delfi that his office intends to summon the Chinese ambassador in order to get clarification on the Chinese high-ranking diplomat’s comments about the sovereignty of Estonia and other countries of the former USSR. According to the head of the Estonian Foreign Ministry, such statements by the PRC diplomat are regrettable and incomprehensible.
“It is unfortunate that the representative of the People’s Republic of China holds such views. Such a position is incomprehensible,” he said.
Recall that the defense ministers of Russia and China held talks in Moscow on April 18 . According to the Chinese resource Global Times, the parties agreed to cooperate in the field of strategic weapons and the development of early warning systems for missile attacks.
Wang Wenbin, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on April 17 that China is ready to cooperate with the Russian leadership in finding ways to resolve the situation in Ukraine. According to the Chinese diplomat, Beijing is committed to promoting peace talks and will continue to work with the international community on this issue.
Source: FOCUS
