Chinaʼs ambassador to the European Union Fu Kong stated that Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine put China "in a very difficult position." He emphasized that the Chinese authorities do not want to "choose between friends" — Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
He said this in an interview with the South China Morning Post newspaper: "We are suffering collateral damage from this crisis. Both Russia and Ukraine are good friends, so we donʼt want to choose between friends. This is the starting point of our position".
The ambassador emphasized that the war in Ukraine created "great tension" in relations between Europe and China.
“On the second day after the start of this operation, there was an important telephone conversation between Chinese President Xi and President Putin. During this conversation, President Xi made a clear statement in favor of finding a peaceful solution. 10 months later, the facts show that China is not providing military aid to Russia. In fact, our position was quite balanced, agree, and we are ready to join any peaceful efforts," he assured.
At the same time, Fu Kong said that the U.S. is benefiting from this conflict because it sells weapons to Ukraine and makes money from the energy crisis in Europe.
- Recently, on December 14, the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal wrote that Xi Jinping in recent weeks instructed his government to establish closer economic ties with Russia. Thus, the plan includes increasing Chinese imports of Russian oil, gas and agricultural goods, expanding joint energy partnerships in the Arctic, and increasing Chinese investment in Russian infrastructure (railways and ports). Also, Russia and China now conduct more financial transactions in rubles and yuan than in euros or dollars, which helps to protect them from future sanctions and ensure a wider circulation of the Chinese currency.
- China does not officially provide Russia with military aid and supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but does not condemn Russiaʼs aggression. In July of this year, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Zhao Lijian, said that the United States was to blame for Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine.