The EU’s foreign policy chief on Monday warned China against providing Russia weapons for its war on Ukraine, after Beijing dismissed US allegations that it was considering sending arms.
Josep Borrell said he told China’s top diplomat Wang Yi at a meeting over the weekend that “for us, it would be a red line in our relationship.”
“He told me that they are not going to do it, that they don’t plan to do it. But we will remain vigilant,“ Borrell told journalists ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China was now “considering providing lethal support” to Moscow ranging “from ammunition to the weapons themselves”.
But China blasted the allegations as “false” and said it was Washington that was fuelling the conflict by arming Ukraine’s forces. The 27-nation EU has sided firmly with Ukraine since Moscow launched its all-out invasion a year ago, providing Kyiv with weapons and financial aid worth billions of euros.
There has been widespread concern about Beijing’s deeping relationship with Moscow and its refusal to condemn the Kremlin’s aggression outright. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom warned that if China did start supplying arms to Russia then “it would definitely have consequences”.