China told by Penny Wong to rein in Vladimir Putin, calls his latest threats ‘weak and desperate’
Penny Wong lashes Vladimir Putin’s latest threats, puts China on notice that it must use its ‘no limits’ partnership to rein him in.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has put China on notice in a speech to the UN General Assembly that it must use its “no limits” partnership with Russia to force an end to its war with Ukraine, declaring Vladimir Putin’s unchecked use of military power is a threat to all smaller nations.
A day after her second face-to-face meeting with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, the Foreign Minister has told world leaders early on Saturday (AEST) that countries with Russian ties must use their influence to deliver peace, lashing Putin’s nuclear threat over Ukraine as “weak and desperate”.
“In this pursuit, the world looks to China, a great power, a permanent member of the Security Council, with a ‘no limits partnership’ with Russia,” Senator Wong told UN delegates in New York.
“Mr Putin’s weak and desperate actions underline the threats that nuclear weapons pose to us all.”
“The death and destruction in Ukraine reminds us all how much we have to lose.”
Senator Wong delivered a similar message directly to Mr Wang in person, telling him China had a “special responsibility” to use its influence to end the war.
She also used the meeting to call for an end to Chinese trade sanctions against Australia, the release of detained Australians Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun, and the maintenance of peace in the Taiwan Strait.
Senator Wong labelled the talks constructive, saying she and Mr Wang agreed it was in the best interests of both countries to continue to stabilise the relationship, but warned it would be a “long road” to rebuild bilateral ties.
In the landmark UN speech on Saturday, Senator Wong accused Russia of misusing its Security Council veto to perpetrate “unchecked abuse of the UN charter”. She will use her speech to align Australia with the so-called global south – the developing and newly industrialised countries outside Europe and North America – pointing to Australia’s “300 different ancestries” and “oldest continuous culture on the planet”.
She argued small and medium-sized countries have a responsibility to counter global instability and avert “catastrophic” conflict. “We cannot accept a situation where large countries determine the fate of smaller countries,” Senator Wong will say, in comments aimed at Beijing as much as Moscow.
“It is up to all of us to create the kind of world to which we aspire: stable, peaceful, prosperous and respectful of sovereignty. That is the very rationale for the United Nations itself.”
Senator Wong reiterated Australia’s bid for a temporary UN Security Council seat in 2029-30, and call for reforms to allow new permanent council members from Africa, Latin America and Asia – including India and Japan.
She recalled the role of former Labor foreign minister Herbert Evatt in setting up the UN Charter in the 1940s, pushing for greater influence for smaller nations that risked being dominated by the great powers who won World War II.
“Dr Evatt did not succeed in his fight against the great powers’ veto within the Security Council, but he did succeed in ensuring that the General Assembly has the ability to decide its own course,” she said.
Her scheduled appearance before the UN comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Russia. Mr Putin on Tuesday threatened to use nuclear weapons and moved to call up 300,000 reservists following a humiliating retreat by his country’s forces from Ukraine’s north.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanded Mr Putin be held to account as he faced Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in a Security Council session in which the UN catalogued abuses in Ukraine.
“The very international order we’ve gathered here to uphold is being shredded before our eyes,” Mr Blinken said. “We cannot — we will not — let President Putin get away with it.”
The top US diplomat said it was critical to show that no nation could redraw the borders of another by force.
“If we fail to defend this principle when the Kremlin is so flagrantly violating it, we send the message to aggressors everywhere that they can ignore it, too,” he said.
Mr Lavrov — who Mr Blinken has refused to meet since the February invasion — lashed out at the accusations. “There’s an attempt today to impose on us a completely different narrative about Russian aggression as the origin of this tragedy,” Mr Lavrov told the Security Council.
He accused Ukraine of “Russophobia” including through its imposition of Ukrainian language rules.
“The United States and their allies with the connivance of international human rights organisations have been covering the crimes of the Kyiv regime,” Mr Lavrov said, before walking out.
Opening the session, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the UN rights body had seen “a catalogue of cruelty — summary executions, sexual violence, torture and other inhumane and degrading treatment against civilians and prisoners of war”.
“All these allegations must be thoroughly investigated, to ensure accountability,” he said.
“Perpetrators must be held to account in fair and independent judicial proceedings.”
More Coverage
A bit ruff: No dog is worth $60k in vet fees
Scott Pape loves his new kelpie pup but there’s no way he’ll be forking out $60,000 in vet fees like one of his financially-strained, dog-obsessed Barefoot followers did.
When the hurricane relief worker turns out to be a neo-Nazi
The contentious US presidential race that has sharply politicised the storms is providing a new opening for hate groups that were already on the rise.