Global South ‘Worried’ West Could Relax Rules for Kiev’s Strikes in Russia: Beijing

Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia share China’s concerns about the West further easing rules on Kiev’s use of donated weapons deep inside Russia, Beijing’s special representative for Eurasian affairs said on Tuesday.

Li Hui made the remarks while briefing the media after the fourth round of shuttle diplomacy on the Ukraine crisis, during which he visited the three countries.

Kiev already has the approval of several Western states to hit “legitimate” targets within Russia using donated weapons, and a concession from Washington for “conducting counter-fire defensive operations” across Russia’s border.

As Kiev continues its incursion in Kursk Region, however, Vladimir Zelensky has resumed calls for the country’s Western backers to expand the permitted strike range – a prospect that Moscow has warned would constitute an escalation of the conflict.

“At present, the international community is generally concerned about the further escalation and spillover of the Ukrainian crisis, and more and more countries believe that the top priority is to promote the cooling of the situation,” said Li.

Li also accused Western “super hawks” of intentionally heating up the conflict.

“All parties believe that the prolonged crisis is not just about Russia and Ukraine, but that the global war system represented by some military-industrial complexes is behind the conflict,” he said.