Brussels, Mar 27 (IANS): Josep Borrell, the European Union's (EU) foreign-policy chief, warned that the Ukrainian crisis and the West's reaction could "push" Russia towards China.

Doing so could lead to the creation of a major rift between the global north and south, RT News quoted the diplomat as saying during the opening session of the Doha Forum, adding that such a scenario should be avoided.

"One of the bad consequences of what's happening is that we can push Russia to China, and we can create a division between the global southeast and the global northwest," Borrell stated.

First of all, the West should ramp up its efforts to end the Ukrainian conflict in order to avoid the emergence of such a global rift, he explained, describing Russia's ongoing offensive in Ukraine as a "war of attrition".

"In order to avoid this trend, the first thing to do is to stop this war of aggression, war of attrition today," the diplomat said, outlining the West's strategy as a mix of military aid to Ukraine and anti-Russian sanctions.

Borrell did not elaborate on how such a strategy would help to avoid "pushing" Russia into China's arms, RT News reported.

Since the beginning of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Beijing has taken a neutral stance, urging all parties to stick to diplomacy, calling upon the West to address Russia's longstanding security concerns and opposing unilateral sanctions.