and, in particular, his singling out of junior staff members. Concerning the long-standing Aegean dispute between Turkey and Greece, Borrell in August 2020 expressed "full solidarity" with Greece and Cyprus (Turkey has occupied northern Cyprus since July 1974) and called for "immediate deescalation" by Turkey and "reengaging in dialogue." In October 2020, Borrell called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to cease fighting in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region and return to the negotiating table. In February 2021, Borrell voiced "strong concern" about China's "treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, in particular" ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang. In March 2021, he said China's sanctions on EU officials had created "a new atmosphere" and "a new situation". Although warned against doing so by several EU countries, Borrell decided on his own initiative to make the first high-level EU trip of its type in four years to Russia amidst the 2021 Russian protests, to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The visit was described by MEPs, diplomats and other political observers as a humiliation for Borrell, as he stood by while Lavrov called the EU an "unreliable partner" and Russia expelled three EU diplomats while Borrell and Lavrov held their joint press briefing. This led to a group of over 70 MEPs to call for Borrell's resignation. In May 2021, Borrell called for a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. In June 2021, the Spanish newspaper ABC published a mail that described that Borrell had informed the Cuban embassy about the debate in the European Parliament about the situation in Cuba and that showed his intention to stop the debate and prevent it from reaching the Parliament's floor. A group of at least 16 MEPs asked Borrell for explanations. In August 2021, Borrell received criticism for sending a ranking EU representative to attend the inauguration of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi. Some members of the European Parliament believed that sending a senior diplomat "... contradicts European commitments to uphold and stand for human rights." In September 2021, Borrell compared the situation on the Belarus–Poland border to the migrant crisis on the Morocco–Spain border. In October 2021, he went to Saudi Arabia after visiting Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Borrell said that the EU "now has human rights dialogues with all Gulf States and we launched such a dialogue with Saudi Arabia this week. This is an area where there is much to