China tells EU it does not want to see Russia lose its war in Ukraine: sources
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The comment, to the EU's Kaja Kallas, would confirm what many in Brussels believe to be Beijing's position but jar with China's public utterances. The foreign ministry regularly says China is 'not a party' to the war. Some EU officials involved were surprised by the frankness of Wang's remarks.
However, Wang is said to have rejected the accusation that China was materially supporting Russia's war effort, financially or militarily, insisting that if it was doing so, the conflict would have ended long ago.
During a marathon four-hour debate on a wide range of geopolitical and commercial grievances, Wang was said to have given Kallas – the former Estonian prime minister who only late last year took up her role as the bloc's de facto foreign affairs chief – several 'history lessons and lectures'.
A soldier of Ukraine's 30th Separate Mechanised Brigade prepares to fires a rocket launcher toward Russian positions at the front line in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on Thursday. Photo: AP
Some EU officials felt he was giving her a lesson in realpolitik, part of which focused on Beijing's belief that Washington would soon turn its full attention eastward, two officials said.
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