SYDNEY—Backing Russia in the Ukraine War would be costly for Beijing, according to the recently appointed Ukrainian ambassador to Australia.
Vasyl Myroshnychenko, who recently arrived in the country, told audience members of the Western Heritage Australia organisation in late March it was clear the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was “fence-sitting” regarding publicly condemning Vladimir Putin’s regime.
The top diplomat said it was not worth the CCP’s effort to back Russia given the size of its economy.
“This is not an equal relationship. Russia is just one-eighth of the economy of China. If you look at Russia, really at its core, in economic terms, the GDP of Russia is equal to the GDP of the Netherlands,” he said. “If it was not for the nuclear weapons, it (Russia) would be of very little significance or influence.”
Myroshnychenko also said that China was highly integrated into the world economy and questioned whether it would really benefit the CCP to “disrupt trade relations with Western countries.”
“The dependence of China on America is much greater than the dependence of China on Russia,” he said. “Of course, we understand that by buying Russian oil and gas they will be able to support Putin’s regime, or trading in Yuan when he is not able to trade in dollars [due to sanctions].”
“Now Russia totally depends on China, and it will be up to China how they deal with it.”
U.S., European, and Australian leaders have ramped up pressure on Beijing not to offer Russia a lifeline amid a wave of economic sanctions on the country’s oligarchs, state-owned enterprises, and military organisations.
Meanwhile, photos and videos have emerged of dead bodies lying in the streets of the Ukrainian city of Bucha, near the capital Kyiv.