Xi warns against smearing China over Ukraine, criticises NATO

PARIS, May 7:  Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday warned against smearing China over the Ukraine conflict, insisting that Beijing was playing a "positive role" trying to find a peaceful solution to Russias invasion.
"We oppose using the Ukraine crisis to cast blame, smear a third country and incite a new Cold War," Xi told reporters during a joint news conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.
"We are not watching the fire from the sidelines, we have always been playing a positive role in achieving peace.
Meanwhile, Xi Jinping on Tuesday criticised NATO for its "flagrant" bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia in 1999, warning Beijing would "never allow such tragic history to repeat itself".
Xi was writing in Serbian daily Politika ahead of arriving in the Serbian capital Belgrade later on Tuesday, the next stop on his first visit to Europe since the Covid      pandemic.     —AFP