Nato has urged China not to back Russia’s war effort in Ukraine or help Vladimir Putin escape the sanctions imposed following the invasion.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg called on Beijing to use its “significant influence” on Russia to press for an immediate peaceful resolution to the crisis.
In a joint statement, the alliance’s leaders called on China to “cease amplifying the Kremlin’s false narratives” about the war and Nato.
“We call on all states, including the People’s Republic of China (PRC), to uphold the international order including the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, as enshrined in the UN Charter, to abstain from supporting Russia’s war effort in any way, and to refrain from any action that helps Russia circumvent sanctions,” they said.
The US has concerns that China could supply military equipment to Russia to help Mr Putin’s forces cope with the impact of losses in Ukraine and economic sanctions.
The UK’s International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan suggested Xi Jinping’s country could be hit with sanctions if it supplied arms to Russia, in the same way Belarus had been targeted with economic measures.
“We’ve sanctioned Belarus right alongside Russia precisely because they basically said feel free to park your tanks on our lawn,” she told The Sun.
“That is just not acceptable.
“Anyone who wants to support the outrageous and illegal invasion of a democratic nation needs to be cognisant of what they’re doing and the impacts that is going to have elsewhere.”
The British prime minister’s official spokesman said the UK would “continue to talk to the Chinese government, Chinese leadership at all levels to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as part of imposing the maximum possible pressure on Putin”.
“We very much want to have a positive and constructive trading relationship with China whilst also making sure that our our national security, freedom and democracy are protected and we’ll work with China on that,” the spokesman said.
“But I’m not going to get into speculating about what we might do in certain circumstances.”
