BERLIN (AP) – Chancellor Olaf Scholz says there would be “consequences” if China sent weapons to Russia for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, but he’s fairly optimistic Beijing will refrain from doing so.
Scholz’s comments came in an interview with CNN that aired Sunday, two days after he met US President Joe Biden in Washington.
US officials recently warned that China could step off the sidelines and start shipping arms and ammunition to Moscow. In the run-up to his trip, Scholz had called on Beijing to refrain from supplying arms and instead to use its influence to urge Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
Asked by CNN if he would consider sanctioning China for helping Russia, Scholz replied: “I think there would be consequences, but we are now at a stage where we are making it clear that this is not happening.” and I am relatively optimistic that in this case we will be successful with our application, but we have to look at it and we have to be very, very careful.”
He did not elaborate on the nature of the consequences. Germany has Europe’s largest economy, and China has been its largest trading partner in recent years.
Back in Germany, after a meeting between his cabinet and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Scholz was asked on Sunday if he had received any concrete evidence from the US that China was considering arms sales and if he would support sanctions against Beijing if this would lead to the Arming Russia would contribute.
“We all agree that there must be no arms deliveries, and the Chinese government has said it will not,” the Chancellor replied. “We demand that and we observe it.”
He did not address the question of sanctions.
Von der Leyen said, “We don’t have any evidence of that yet, but we have to monitor it every day.”
She said whether the European Union will sanction China for providing military aid to Russia “is a hypothetical question that can only be answered if it becomes reality and fact.”
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine