Day 372: Scholz Joins US in Urging China Not to Provide Russia with Weapons

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Facts

• Ahead of a trip to the US on Friday, German chancellor Olaf Scholz followed suit with America in urging China not to provide weapons to Russia in its fight against Ukraine.¹
• Addressing the German parliament on Thursday, Scholz said: 'My message to Beijing is clear: use your influence in Moscow to urge the withdrawal of Russian troops. And don't deliver any weapons to the aggressor Russia.' China has denied it has any intention of providing Russia with weaponry.¹
• The warning from Scholz comes as a report from Reuters, citing four US officials, stated that the US is consulting close allies on the possibility of imposing new sanctions on China if Beijing provides military support to Russia. The US Treasury Dept., which leads the imposition of sanctions, declined to comment on the report.²
• Divides over the Russia-Ukraine conflict were also on display at the G20 summit in India, with the US and European allies trading rebukes and condemnation with Russia over the war. In a video message that opened the summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the foreign ministers to find common ground. 'You are meeting at a time of deep global divisions,' he said. 'We should not allow issues that we cannot resolve together to come in the way of those we can.'³
• Meanwhile, a group of roughly 50 Ukrainian saboteurs reportedly crossed into the Russian region of Bryansk on Thursday where they have taken at least six people hostage, according to reports in Russian media. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has reportedly launched an operation to eliminate the infiltrators and one civilian has reportedly been injured. One civilian was initially reported killed, but this was later corrected by local officials.⁴
• In Russian attacks over the past day, four civilians were reported killed and a further eight were injured following an overnight missile strike on the city of Zaporizhzhia. Five people are considered missing. In attacks on Donetsk over the past day, one civilian was reported killed and five more were reported injured. Russian attacks were also recorded in the regions of Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, and Poltava, as well as in Kharkiv and Kherson, without additional reports of civilian casualties.⁵

Sources: ¹Yahoo (a), ²Yahoo (b), ³Msn, ⁴Newsweek and ⁵Ukrinform.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Yahoo. China must be made to understand that the international community will not tolerate any attempt to aid Russia in its illegal invasion of Ukraine — Beijing's international diplomatic relationships and economy will suffer if this continues.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Associated press. The US has prolonged the conflict in Ukraine by intensifying its arms deliveries to Kyiv, yet it continues to spread false information about China’s supply of weapons to Russia. US sanctions are demonstrations of double standards and bullying.

Predictions