China Officials ‘Don’t Plan’ To Send Weapons To Russia As EU Warns Of ‘Consequences’

China’s top diplomat told the European Union’s foreign policy chief that China doesn’t plan to send weapons to Russia to aid its war against Ukraine.

While speaking to reporters Monday, E.U. high representative for foreign affairs and security policy Josep Borrell recalled meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Saturday and expressing the E.U.’s concerns about China’s alleged plan to provide lethal aid to Russia.

Borrell warned his Chinese counterpart that supporting Russia’s aggression in Ukraine would badly affect E.U.-China relations, Politico reported.

“I expressed our strong concern about China providing arms to Russia. I asked him not to do that, and expressing not only our concern, but the fact that for us, it would be a red line in our relationship,” the E.U. foreign policy chief said of his meeting with Wang.

“He told me that they’re not going to do it, that they don’t plan to do it,” Borrell added. “But we will remain vigilant.”

Other E.U. foreign ministers have also warned Beijing against providing weapons to Russia.

“If such a decision is taken [by China], it will definitely have consequences, of course,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said. “We stand side by side with the United States on that message.”

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis made similar remarks, saying that the E.U. would stand together with the U.S. should China arm Russia in the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also expressed his concern, urging Beijing to “maintain a pragmatic attitude” to avoid escalating the conflict into a Third World War.

Zelensky said he appealed to the Chinese government not to provide any support to aid Russia’s war effort.

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed that U.S. intelligence picked up information that China was considering providing “lethal support” to Russia ranging from “ammunition to the weapons themselves.”

Blinken noted that China has already provided “non-lethal support” to Russia for use in Ukraine by commissioning Chinese private companies.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry strongly denied Blinken’s claims and turned the tables on the U.S. as the country that is “endlessly shipping weapons to the battlefield.”

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin urged the U.S. to promote dialogue to resolve the conflict and stop “spreading false information.”

The controversy over China’s alleged plans to support Russia, its closest ally, came ahead of the upcoming trip of Beijing’s top diplomat to Moscow.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Wang’s Moscow visit, suggesting that it is possible that the Chinese foreign minister would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a “clear and very extensive” agenda between the two countries.

An unnamed diplomatic source told Reuters that Wang is expected to discuss China’s proposed political settlement to resolve the war in Ukraine.