![\"Supporters](\"https:\/\/c.files.bbci.co.uk\/10137\/production\/_116374856_hi065086204.jpg\")
<\/span>IMAGE COPYRIGHT<\/span>REUTERS<\/span><\/div><\/p>\n
The riot forced the suspension of a joint session of Congress to certify Joe Biden’s electoral victory.<\/p>\n
Many leaders called for peace and an orderly transition of power, describing what happened as “horrifying” and an “attack on democracy”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the “disgraceful scenes”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
“The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power,” he wrote on Twitter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Other UK politicians joined him in criticising the violence,<\/a> with opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer calling it a “direct attack on democracy”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Home Secretary Priti Patel told the BBC that Mr Trump’s comments “directly led” to his supporters storming Congress and clashing with police.<\/a><\/p>\n Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that the scenes from the US Capitol were “utterly horrifying”.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said those who stormed the US legislature were “attackers and rioters” and that she felt “angry and also sad” after seeing pictures from the scene.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n She told a meeting of German conservatives: “I regret very much that President Trump has still not admitted defeat, but has kept raising doubts about the elections.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n China meanwhile attempted to draw comparisons between the rioters who entered Congress to try and subvert the US election result and pro-democracy protesters who stormed Hong Kong’s Legislative Council last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying claimed events in Hong Kong were more “severe” than those in Washington but “not one demonstrator died”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The comparisons between the two incidents has caused outrage among Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists and their supporters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Russia blamed the “archaic” US electoral system and the politicisation of the media for Wednesday’s unrest in Washington.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “The electoral system in the United States is archaic, it does not meet modern democratic standards, creating opportunities for numerous violations, and the American media have become an instrument of political struggle,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n