EU’s Kallas says Xi, Putin, Kim and Iran challenge rules-based order

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday the leaders of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea – who appeared together at a military parade in Beijing – represented an “autocratic alliance” challenging the rules-based international order.

“While Western leaders gather in diplomacy, an autocratic alliance is seeking a fast track to a new world order,” Kallas, the European Union’s high representative for foreign and security policy, told reporters in Brussels.

“Looking at President Xi standing alongside the leaders of Russia, Iran, (and) North Korea in Beijing today, these aren’t just anti-Western optics: This is a direct challenge to the international system built on rules.”

(Reporting by Andrew Gray; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)