German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned China on Monday against supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with military equipment during a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Baerbock said that supporters of Russia should understand that the war in Ukraine concerns Europe’s “core security interests” and that supporting Russia therefore “must and will have consequences” for China.
The German Foreign Minister gave no further details.
Baerbock is in Brussels to meet with her EU colleagues to discuss the war in Ukraine and the support Russia is receiving from North Korea, China and Iran.
Like Iran, the European Union also warned China against directly supplying military equipment to Russia during the war in Ukraine.
Ahead of the foreign ministers’ meeting, an EU official said the bloc had reports from intelligence sources that a factory in China is producing drones to be shipped to Russia and used against Ukraine.
The EU official said China has supplied Russia with dual-use goods and technologies that could be repurposed for military use in Ukraine.
While the practice is “extremely worrying,” the EU official said the bloc had no direct evidence of material transfers of military equipment from China and Russia.
Investigations into the matter are continuing, the EU official said, and the Chinese government has been asked for more information.
Discussions about Chinese support come after the EU foreign minister agreed to impose new sanctions on Iran for supplying ballistic missiles to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.
The new EU sanctions target two Iranian ports on the Caspian Sea, Amirabad and Anzali, as well as an Iranian shipping company and three Russian shipping companies.
EU companies will no longer be allowed to do business with the sanctioned ports, while ships from the targeted shipping companies will no longer be allowed to dock in EU ports. All assets held in the block must be frozen.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), Iran’s national maritime carrier, has been shipping drones on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for years, according to a statement from EU foreign ministers.
IRISL’s director, Mohammad Reza Khiabani, was also targeted by EU sanctions.
The three Russian companies sanctioned are MG Flot, VTS Broker and Arapax, for moving Iranian-made ammunition, weapons and drones across the Caspian Sea to supply Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine, EU foreign ministers said Business.
Scholz will work with Xi to increase Chinese exports to Russia
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he plans to discuss the issue of arms supplies to Russia with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
“It is always a topic of my conversations to warn everyone against supplying lethal weapons to Russia. And that is why this will also be the case in the future, a central topic,” Scholz said at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro when he was was asked whether he would discuss the alleged supply of Chinese drones to Russia during his meeting with Xi, scheduled for Tuesday.
Scholz added that he has also always made it a point to raise during such meetings the export of so-called dual-use goods to Russia, which can be used for both military and civilian purposes. He will continue to do that.
The deployment of North Korean troops to Russia as part of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine will also be discussed, he said: “This is unacceptable and also a terrible change.”
