China’s top diplomat has promised that Beijing “will not provide arms to Russia,” according to a senior European Union official.
“He was very clear,” said EU High Representative Josep Borrell, who met Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi during the Munich Security Conference. “I can repeat his words: that ‘China does not provide arms to countries at war,’ and ‘they are not providing arms to Russia,’ and ‘they will not provide arms to Russia.’ That is what he told me, stressing clearly that this is a principle of the foreign affairs policy of China.”
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The validity of that pledge remains in question, however, due to the political alignment between Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. As Borrell recalled his conversation in Munich, the Chinese envoy continued his diplomatic tour with a trip to Moscow, where he discussed a meeting between Putin and Xi.
“Against the backdrop of a very complex and volatile international situation, Sino-Russian relations have withstood pressure from the international community and are developing very steadily. We are also ready to emphasize that our relations are always not directed at third countries and, of course, they are not subject to pressure from third parties, since we have a very strong foundation — from the economy, politics, and culture,” Wang told Putin.
President Joe Biden and other Western leaders have used the threat of economic sanctions and diplomatic blowback to discourage Xi from providing military assistance to Ukraine. Yet China’s policy may be wavering, U.S. officials fear, as Russia has sought military assistance from smaller states such as Iran and, reportedly, North Korea.
“We have seen Chinese companies — and of course, in China, there’s really no distinction between private companies and the state — we have seen them provide non-lethal support to Russia for use in Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday on CBS. “The concern that we have now is, based on information we have, that they’re considering providing lethal support, and we’ve made very clear to them that that would cause a serious problem for us and in our relationship.”
Access to Russian ammunition has emerged as a bone of contention between Russian mercenary force fighting in Ukraine and the regular Russian military. Wagner Group chief executive Yevgeny Prigozhin denounced the Russian Defense Ministry this week, accusing the military brass of “treason” on the grounds that they are choking off the Wagner Group’s ammunition supplies.
”If every Russian at his own level — in order not to call anyone to rallies — would simply say ‘give ammunition to Wagner,’ as is already going on on social media, then this would already be important,” Prigozhin wrote on social media. “We’ll make them give [us] ammunition.”
Russian defense officials have denied short-changing the Wagner Group, with a pro-Russian military channel arguing instead that the Wagner Group used to receive special treatment in terms of supplies. “Now the guys have become like everyone else in terms of supply, and the most depressing thing is not that [they] were specifically decreased to the general norms, but that these general norms do not allow them to give the desired result,” as one prominent account put it, according to the War Translated Project.
That dispute points to the race to see whether the Russian invaders or the Ukrainian defenders obtain a critical mass of weapons first. Borrell, the EU’s diplomatic chief, urged EU member-states “to work on the short-term providing ammunition quickly — it is a matter of weeks” as Ukrainian and Russian officials prepare for a major spring clash.
“Because today, the rhythm of using ammunitions is greater than the rhythm of production,” Borrell said. “So, you know, even if the water goes [out] quicker than it comes in, in the end, it is empty.”
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Wang, the Chinese diplomatic chief, implied to Borrell that it is hypocritical of European powers to arm Ukraine while objecting to Chinese aid for Russia.
“And by the way, [he asked] me: ‘Why do you show concern for me maybe providing arms to Russia when you are providing arms to Ukraine?’” Borrell said. “And I had to explain the big difference. I had to explain what is at stake for us, Europeans, in the war in Ukraine. So, that is what China told me. Nevertheless, we have to remain vigilant. But as far as I know, there is no evidence that China has been doing what they claim not to be doing.”
