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Putin raises his voice to put the Russians on a war footing, and his partners in China reply that the only path they understand is through a ceasefire in Ukraine.

The Russian leader is unable to scratch the backing he would like from Beijing.

Last week, in

Putin's face-to-face meeting with his colleague Xi Jinping

at a regional security summit in Uzbekistan, the highlight was

Xi's discomfort with the Russian attack

being made public for the first time .

Now, after the

call-up of 300,000 Russian reservists

, the Asian giant is calling for dialogue to end the war in Ukraine once and for all.

Wang Wenbin, one of the usual spokesmen for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, went out this Wednesday afternoon to the daily press conference knowing what he was going to respond as soon as question time passed to the foreign media.

In this case, to the 'Bloomberg' correspondent.

-"What is the comment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the last words of Vladimir Putin on the escalation of force in Ukraine?"

-"

China

's position on the Ukraine crisis is consistent and clear. We call on the parties involved to

solve the problem through dialogue and negotiation

, and find a solution that takes into account the

legitimate security concerns of all parties

. We also hope that the international community will create the conditions and the space for it."

The spokesman reiterated that

China advocates a ceasefire

in Ukraine and was also clear when asked about the

referendum to be held in Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia

.

"We believe that all countries deserve respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity, that the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations should be observed. Support should be given to all efforts leading to a peaceful resolution of the crisis. China stands ready to work with members of the international community to continue to play a constructive role in de-escalation efforts," Wang said.

Since the war began, in Beijing they have not stopped emphasizing respect for Ukraine's sovereignty, but repeat again and again that they consider Russia's security concerns about NATO's expansion into Eastern Europe to be legitimate.

They do not get out of this contradiction: they send more than three million dollars in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, while launching a

tacit support for the positions of the Kremlin

.

Facing the international gallery, they defend a neutral position, but the narrative they launch to their public through the state media clearly leans in favor of their Russian partner.

A media position that may also be taking a turn after the military escalation announced on Wednesday by Putin.

The example can be found in the latest column published by Hu Xijin, editor of the 'Global Times', one of the newspapers loyal to the Communist Party that makes the most noise abroad with its English edition.

"It is necessary to put an emergency brake on the situation in Ukraine at a time when the scale of the war is still manageable. There needs to be a ceasefire and negotiations instead of an escalating confrontation between Russia and NATO." Please don't forget that there will be no absolute winner or loser in a military conflict between nuclear powers. Whoever tries to completely overwhelm the other side must be crazy," Hu wrote.

The editor was referring to Putin's threat that he will use "all means" at his disposal to defend Putin.

What would Beijing do if Russia launched a nuclear attack?

A complex situation for China, where in a debate program on state television 'CCTV' they have agreed on a

pact that Xi Jinping reached in 2013

with the then Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych: the signing of an agreement by which

China promises to protect Ukraine from nuclear threats

.

"China is further committed to providing nuclear security guarantees to Ukraine when this country faces an invasion involving nuclear weapons or is under threat of nuclear invasion."

This is highlighted in the statement signed by President Xi.

Ukraine and Russia appear in documents signed by their leaders linking them to China as "strategic partners."

Both countries are within the new Silk Road promoted by Beijing.

China is Russia's largest trading partner.

But so is Ukraine, which for years helped develop, unlike Moscow, Beijing's military assets (it

bought its first aircraft carrier in Ukraine

in 1998).

"It helped to modernize its military infrastructure.

The Chinese Navy was thus able to skip an estimated 15-year investigation period

," Jon Yuan Jiang, an analyst of relations between China and Russia at the University of Queensland (Australia), explained to this newspaper.

During the last regional summit in Uzbekistan, in addition to the Chinese leader's wake-up call, Putin got a slap on the wrist from another of his Asian partners,

India

.

Prime Minister

Narendra Modi

blurted out to the Russian's face that

"now is not the time for wars

. "

Modi had been juggling for months not to issue a firm condemnation of the attack on Moscow, India's biggest defense supplier for years, and now also a big seller of cheap oil and coal.

From the United States they applauded that their also ally Modi finally dared to question the invasion carried out by a Russia, whose latest movements are not being well received by other leaders close to Putin.

This is the case of the president of

Turkey

,

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

, who

this week asked Russia to leave the occupied territories

in Ukraine and reiterated that "no invasion can be justified."

At last week's Eurasian summit, held in the city of Samarkand, in addition to Russia, China, India and Turkey, the leaders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan also attended.

Nations that were once part of the Soviet Union and count Moscow as their closest economic and military partner are now very uncomfortable with the Russian army's attack on Ukraine.

Following Putin's mobilization announcement, these countries have put their citizens on notice that they will face criminal charges if they mobilize to fight on the Ukrainian front.

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