The US and Russian ambassadors clashed over Ukraine in a rare joint appearance in Beijing. Nicholas Burns, the United States ambassador, told the World Peace Forum in Beijing that Russia’s “unprovoked” invasion was “the greatest threat to the world order”. “Russia’s war in Ukraine, the fact that Russia crossed the border with an armed force, unprovoked, and has started this war with so much human suffering, so many innocent civilians dead – this is a direct violation of the UN Charter,” the ambassador told the event, which was hosted by Tsinghua University. He also warned that other countries were suffering because Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s ports had disrupted grain exports. But Andrey Denisov, the Russian ambassador, who spoke after Burns, said he “totally disagreed” with the comments and his American counterpart had ignored the backdrop of Nato expansion. “Nato, in essence, is involved in the war with Russia through proxies,” Denisov said. (https://news.yahoo.com/us-russian-ambassadors-china-clash-093000239.html) China has so far refused to condemn Russia’s invasion and has criticised the imposition of sanctions and Nato’s eastward expansion, saying the alliance has created more conflict rather than resolving problems. Densiov said China had been calling on all sides to take a constructive position, and suggested it may be able to “play a role” as mediator.