Iran Press/ Asia: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Monday evening that Moscow has recognized the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk and signed cooperation and friendship agreements with the leaders of these republics at the Kremlin Palace
Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, at a regular press briefing on Wednesday, said: “The position of the Chinese government is that we believe that sanctions have never been a fundamental and effective way to solve problems, and China always opposes any illegal unilateral sanctions,”
“Since 2011, the United States has imposed sanctions on Russia more than 100 times, but we can all think about it calmly,” she added.
Chinese official also said: “Have US sanctions solved the problem?”
Russia has cultivated close ties with China. Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, met President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at the Olympic Games in Beijing this month, and they declared in a joint statement that their friendship had “no limits”. 219
