China's ambassador to EU: ‘No limit’ friendship with Moscow ‘nothing but rhetoric’

China’s Ambassador to the European Union Fu Cong downplayed the Russo-Chinese partnership in an interview with the New York Times on April 5.

Despite China’s refusal to denounce the Russian aggression against Ukraine, Fu said that his homeland is not on Russia’s side of the war.

The Chinese ambassador added that the relationship between Beijing and Moscow has been “deliberately misinterpreted.”

Fu has refuted the statement of U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken from February this year that China considers supplying Russia with arms. However, in March, the U.S. government confirmed that Chinese ammunition had been used in Ukraine, likely fired by the Russian forces.

Fu’s statements come amidst efforts by top European officials to sway China away from supporting Russia’s war of aggression.

French President Emmanuel Macron and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen are scheduled to meet the Chinese leader Xi Jinping on April 6, with the Russo-Ukrainian war on the agenda.

Xi and the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin announced a strategic partnership with “no limits” between their countries on Feb. 4, 2022, with the primary goal of countering the US global influence.

Explainer: China’s increasing role in Russia’s war against Ukraine

Just days before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February, China’s leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a “friendship without limits,” agreeing there would be no “forbidden areas of cooperation.” Unsurprisingly then, Beijing did not condemn Russia’s all-out w…

Kyiv IndependentThaisa Semenova