China is not “deliberately” circumventing Western sanctions against Russia, Beijing said on Saturday, the day after an EU warning that any support for Moscow will harm its economic relations with Europe.
• Read also: Ukraine: EU warns Beijing that support for Moscow will harm their economic ties
A close partner of Moscow, Beijing has so far refrained from condemning the Russian invasion, contenting itself with calling on all parties to exercise restraint.
Westerners are urging the Asian giant to clearly demonstrate its opposition to the Kremlin offensive.
During a meeting with Chinese leaders on Friday, the EU warned that any support for Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions will harm Beijing’s economic relations with Europe, its largest trading partner.
“We are not doing anything to deliberately circumvent the sanctions imposed on Russia,” Chinese foreign affairs official Wang Lutong said on Saturday.
Beijing opposes sanctions against Russia and considers them counterproductive to resolving the situation in Ukraine.
Chinese companies are, however, cautious in their dealings with Russia, for fear of being hit by these sanctions.
“China is not a party to the Ukrainian crisis […] Therefore, our trade with Moscow should not be targeted” by sanctions, said Mr. Wang, questioned by the press the day after a China-EU summit.
While the communist power defends its “rock-solid” friendship with Moscow, the EU wants to dissuade China from actively supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine, by increasing its purchases of hydrocarbons or through financial aid.
Such support would “seriously tarnish China’s reputation in Europe”, where companies are “looking at how countries are positioning themselves”, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen observed on Friday after a videoconference interview with the President. Chinese Xi Jinping.
“We hope that China takes into consideration the importance of its international image and its economic relationship with the EU,” added Charles Michel, President of the European Council, who participated in the virtual summit.
Beijing has also called for not “overestimating” its role with Moscow to end hostilities in Ukraine.
“Telling the Russians ‘you have to stop this war and the Russians will stop’: it doesn’t work that way,” Wang said, arguing that the invasion of Ukraine is an “independent decision taken by Russia.”