China Hits Back at US ‘Pressuring’ Over Ties With Russia

China is lashing out at a U.S. official for “pressuring” Beijing over its relationship with Russia as war continues to rage in Ukraine.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said during a virtual town hall event on Tuesday that China and Russia had built a close relationship based on a mutual “aggrievement with the West and the United States.”

Campbell warned China that its relationship with with the U.S. would suffer if it continues to strengthen ties with Russia, as Moscow now poses a “significant threat” to U.S. interests by putting “peace and stability in Europe” at risk.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning hit back at Campbell during a press conference on Wednesday, while insisting that China had been “actively promoting peace talks” to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

“On Ukraine, China has always taken an objective and just position and played a constructive role in actively promoting peace talks,” Mao said. “China and Russia have the right to carry out normal cooperation. Such cooperation should not come under external interference or constraint.”

“China will not accept the accusations and pressuring,” she added. “If certain countries truly care about peace and want an early end to the crisis, they should reflect on the root cause of the crisis and do something that will actually help bring about peace, rather than deflect the blame to China.”

Newsweek reached out for comment to the U.S. State Department via email on Wednesday.

Campbell said during the town hall event that the U.S. had been “clear and transparent” with China about the price that it would pay by supporting Russia in the Ukraine war, calling it a “central issue” that would not be ignored.

“The point that we’re trying to make to Chinese interlocutors is that this is our strategic interest,” Campbell said. “This is the most central issue, and China is involving themselves in a way that they think that we don’t completely understand.”

“We do understand what’s going on,” he continued. “We have told China directly: If this continues, it will have an impact on the U.S.-China relationship. We will not sit by and say everything is fine … this is antithetical to our interests.”

Campbell went on to say that he does not believe China is ultimately hoping for “the borders of Europe [to be] fundamentally rewritten through conflict,” arguing that such a development would not be in Beijing’s “strategic interest.”

Shortly before Campbell participated in the town hall, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Beijing, where they reportedly expressed their mutual respect and alliance against the West.

“We would like to express our highest appreciation and admiration for the successes that you have achieved over the years,” Lavrov told Xi, according to an Associated Press report citing Russian media. “These are the successes of friends.”

“Not everyone in the world shares this attitude and are trying in every possible way to restrain the development of China,” he added. “Just like the development of Russia.”