German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has warned China that supplying Russia with drones with lethal capabilities for its war in Ukraine “must and will have consequences.”
Baerbock didn’t elaborate on her Nov. 18 statement.
On the same day, European Union Foreign Chief Josep Borrell said at a press conference that China’s role in the war has expanded.
“China is today the largest provider of dual use goods and sensitive items that sustain Russia’s military industrial base,” Borrell said. “Without North Korea, without Iran, without China, Russia could not support its military effort, could not continue fighting the war.”
The European Union and the United States have called on China not to provide material or financial support to Russia’s war efforts since it began in 2022.
The Chinese communist regime has maintained it is not taking sides while continuing to provide ways for Russia to bypass international sanctions, according to government officials.
On Nov. 19, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield called Russia a “rogue state,” saying the nation had told the United States there would be no invasion one day before Russian forces crossed into Ukraine.
Reuters reported in September that Russia has established a weapons program in China to develop and manufacture long-range attack drones.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Nov. 19.
Prior to the meeting, Scholz said “I have always addressed the issue of so-called dual-use goods, because there are different practices, but we must not be naive.”
The Russia–Ukraine war entered its 1,000th day on Nov. 19, when Ukraine fired a U.S. missile into Russia after receiving a green light from the Biden administration.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte convened a meeting with EU members in Brussels on Nov. 19, telling reporters that Ukraine needed “more aid, more money.”
