Since the beginning of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, China has repeatedly backed Putin. Now suspicions that China is planning to supply Russia with weapons are causing concern among many European politicians. US President Biden currently sees no reason to do so.
US President Joe Biden does not expect Beijing to supply Moscow with large arms for the Ukraine war. In a recent interview with ABC News, Biden said: “I don’t expect a major initiative from China to arm Russia.” He further explained: If this were the case, “the USA would react”.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS that Washington was concerned “based on the information we have” that China was considering “providing lethal support” to Moscow in the Ukraine war. When asked on CBS what such “deadly support” included, the Secretary of State said “everything from ammunition to the weapons themselves.”
Blinken’s statements raised concern among many European politicians. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that supplying arms to Russia would “cross a red line” from the EU’s point of view. He also said this to the leading Chinese foreign politician Wang Yi in Munich. However, the diplomat assured him that Beijing had “no intention of doing this”.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Monday denied plans to supply arms to Russia in the Ukraine war, calling them “false information”. Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China has always backed the Russian president, describing the US and NATO as the real culprits of the “crisis”.
