Russia-Ukraine crisis updates: China blasts U.S. over approach to Ukraine crisis
CTV
China is accusing the United States of creating 'fear and panic' over the crisis in Ukraine.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Wednesday that China opposes new sanctions on Russia, reiterating a longstanding Chinese position.
She said the U.S. was fuelling tensions by providing weapons to Kyiv in response to Russia's large troop deployment around Ukraine's borders and fears of an invasion.
China-Russia ties have grown closer under Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin at talks in Beijing earlier this month.
The two sides issued a joint statement backing Moscow's opposition to a NATO expansion in former Soviet republics and buttressing China's claim to the self-governing island of Taiwan -- key foreign policy issues for Beijing and Moscow.
An Australian teenager has died after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos in what Australia's prime minister on Thursday called every parent's nightmare. An American and two Danish tourists also died, officials said, following reports that several people had been sickened in a Laotian town popular with backpackers.
Biden authorizes Ukraine's use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles for deeper strikes inside Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia, easing limitations on the weapons.