Biden attacks China and Russia leaders for missing COP summit

US President Joe Biden has criticised the leaders of China and Russia for not turning up to the COP26 climate summit.In a speech on Tuesday night, Biden said climate was "a gigantic issue" and China "walked away" - adding it was the "same thing with Russia and Putin". “I think it's been a big mistake. The world will look to China & say what value-added they provided. They've lost the ability to influence people around the world here at COP. The same way I would argue with regard to Russia,”

China is the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, followed by the US. Russia is the fifth largest after the EU and India. The US president made his comments when asked about the role that other countries - including China, Russia and Saudi Arabia - have played in talks so far."The fact that China is trying to assert, understandably, a new role in the world as a world leader - not showing up, come on," Biden said, adding that Xi Jinping's absence was a "big mistake". He said the same about Putin, saying that Russia's wilderness was burning and their president "stays mum" about the issue.Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend either of the major summits held this week - G20 and COP26. Both leaders cited the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as the reason behind not attending the summits.Xi Jinping has not left China in 21 months ever since the outbreak of the Covid-19 disease; meanwhile in Russia, virus cases have been seeing an upward trend.