The US president has said China’s leader Xi Jinping made a “big mistake” by not attending the COP26 Glasgow climate change summit. He also blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for failing to turn up.
US President Joe Biden launched a broadside at his Chinese and Russian counterparts as he departed the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow on Tuesday, accusing them of failing to show leadership.
Biden, who has been keen to promote the US as being back at the forefront of efforts to tackle climate change, said Beijing and Moscow had lost influence by not being present.
The US president began by criticizing the decision of China’s President Xi Jinping — whose economy is the largest overall emitter — not to attend the summit, at the beginning of the 13-day climate negotiations.