'US fuelling conflicts all over the world': Russian President Putin condemns America on Ukraine, Taiwan

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Washington of seeking to prolong the conflict in Ukraine and of fuelling conflicts elsewhere in the world, including with the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, reported AFP.

"The situation in Ukraine shows that the US is trying to prolong this conflict. And they act in exactly the same way, fuelling the potential for conflict in Asia, Africa and Latin America," the Russian President was quoted as saying.

Earlier, on August 2, a spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry accused Washington of “destabilising” the world, amid reports US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was set to visit Taiwan, despite vociferous opposition from Beijing.

“Everything that relates to this tour, to the possible visit to Taiwan, is of course of provocative character,” the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told reporters on Tuesday before she arrived. “It provokes the situation, leads to more tensions.”

“Here we are in absolute solidarity with China,” he continued. “Its sensitivity to this issue is justified.”

Pelosi went on to become the highest-ranking elected US official to visit the island in more than 25 years, infuriating Beijing.

China warned against Pelosi visiting the self-ruled island, which it claims as its own, saying the United States will “pay the price for undermining China’s sovereignty and security interest”.

A new Cold War?

There is little doubt that China and Russia have entered into a new and potentially dangerous period of their relations with the United States.

As bilateral ties between Washington, Beijing, and Moscow reach lows not seen since the height of the Cold War, tensions have reached a point where there is a palpable risk of what some have called a “new cold war” turning inadvertently into direct confrontation.

For now, Washington has primarily responded to these multiple challenges by strengthening its military alliances.

The Biden administration has been working with its long-standing allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, and India to bolster military cooperation as a means of countering China.

At the same time, Western allies are spearheading the strengthening of NATO and providing direct military aid to Ukraine in a bid to turn the tables on Moscow, in a conflict that has destabilized the entire European continent.