Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang meets along with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the Group of 20.
Xinhua News Agency | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
Europe’s top diplomat said the West must be vigilant on the subject of support for Russia from China, after U.S. officials warned that Beijing might be about to send lethal weapons to Moscow.
China’s role in international politics within the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last 12 months has been a very sensitive one for Western nations.
CIA Director Bill Burns told CBS News last week he’s confident China is considering providing lethal aid to Moscow. This might spark a serious escalation within the war, giving Russia’s struggling military a major boost.
“China has all the time told us they are usually not providing arms to Russia and so they don’t plan to do it, very much explicitly,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, told CNBC on Friday. “But actually, we’ve to stay vigilant.”
His comments got here at the top of a G-20 foreign affairs meeting in India, which was marked by a stark division of opinions toward Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“There may be an enormous divide, and Russia will proceed the war,” he added.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met his Russian counterpart briefly on the sidelines of the G-20 gathering, in what represented their first in-person contact for the reason that invasion began greater than a 12 months ago. Blinken had previously told NBC that there’s information that China is “strongly considering providing lethal assistance to Russia.”
Meanwhile, Jake Sullivan, the White House national security advisor, said last week that if Beijing does provide lethal weapons to Ukraine, it “will come at real costs to China.”
To date, China has not categorically denied the accusations.
At a press briefing Friday, Mao Ning, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said the country had made its position clear.
“On the Ukraine issue, China’s position has all along been objective and fair. We’re committed to promoting talks for peace and dealing for the political settlement of the crisis,” she said.
“The U.S. has been pouring lethal weapons into the battlefield in Ukraine and heightening tensions, while spreading false and malign accusations against China. We don’t accept coercion or pressure from the U.S. What the U.S. should do is facilitate de-escalation and promote talks for peace somewhat than fuel the flame or point fingers at other countries.”
China presented in February a 12-point plan to finish the war in Ukraine. Authorities in Kyiv have said they’re open to considering a few of these points, but in addition reiterated that any peace accord would must involve the total withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
