Russia backs the Paris agreement on climate change as Donald Trump set to announce US decision
'It goes without saying that the effectiveness of this convention is likely to be reduced without its key participants,' Kremlin spokesman says
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Your support makes all the difference.The Russian Government has said it supports the Paris Agreement on climate change ahead of Donald Trump's expected announcement that he will withdraw the US from the landmark accord.
The Kremlin also said the deal, which seeks to limit global warming to as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible, would be less effective without the participation of major countries, Reuters reported.
Several news media in the US have reported that Mr Trump plans to ditch the Paris Agreement, which Barack Obama suggested might one day become viewed as the moment "we finally decided to save the planet".
Speaking hours ahead of the US President's formal announcement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters: "President (Vladimir) Putin signed this convention in Paris. Russia attaches great significance to it.
"At the same time, it goes without saying that the effectiveness of this convention is likely to be reduced without its key participants."
He was speaking as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said there was an "international responsibility" for countries to take action over climate change during a trip to Europe for talks with European Union officials.
Mr Li did not mention the US or Mr Trump specifically, but he referenced an infamous claim by the Republican billionaire that global warming was a hoax made up by China.
"Fighting climate change is a global consensus, it's not invented by China," he said.
In an unprecedented step, the European Union and China are to release a joint statement in a sign of the increasing closeness between Brussels and Beijing – and the widening divide between Brussels and Washington under Mr Trump.
"The EU and China consider climate action and the clean energy transition an imperative more important than ever," it will say.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report
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