Senior European Union (EU) officials will meet for a virtual summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, mainly to discuss the war, which is now in its second month. The long overdue summit comes as relations between China and the EU are already strained by Beijing’s support for Russia. The EU plans to warn China that there will be consequences, including sanctions if it helps Russia. “We want to hear from them why they sided with the Russians,” an EU official told the South China Morning Post. “And we will try to convince them that it is not in our common interest, especially since we know that this war is not going to be resolved until tomorrow.” We do not ask them to walk sloppily behind us and say “yes, we love the EU”. “We ask them to look at the reality and see what is happening in Ukraine and not to actively side or supply weapons to Russia,” he added. An EU official said the message should be clear that China would face serious consequences if Beijing offered any military or financial support to the Kremlin to circumvent sanctions. China says sanctions against Russia also hurt China’s economy. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that among the 193 UN member states, more than 140 have not imposed sanctions on Russia. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin recently said that normal trade and economic exchanges between countries and Russia Here, Wenbin hears a question in the daily briefing of the Foreign Ministry in Beijing on July 24, 2020. Getty Images “I want to emphasize that the problem now is not who wants to help Russia circumvent sanctions, but the fact that normal trade and economic exchanges between countries, including China, and Russia have already been hurt for no reason.” said Webinbin. in press release. “We urge the United States to take China’s concerns seriously when it comes to dealing with Ukraine and its relations with Russia, and to refrain from undermining China’s legitimate rights and interests in any way,” he said. China has denied reports that it is ready to supply arms to Russia. However, US officials have expressed concern that China is on the side of Russia to rise up against the West. “The National Security Adviser and our delegation immediately and very clearly expressed our concerns about the DRC. [People’s Republic of China] “Support for Russia in the aftermath of the invasion and the impact that any such support would have on the DRC’s relationship not only with us but with the rest of the world,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price. Newsweek contacted the European Union and the Chinese Embassy for comment.
