‘Chinese support for Russia’ hitting ties, German Foreign Minister Baerbock tells Wang Yi

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has accused China of supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine, warning Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during talks on Monday that this was affecting Beijing’s relations with both Berlin and Brussels.

“Foreign Minister Baerbock emphasised that the increasing Chinese support for Russia’s war against Ukraine has an impact on our relations, as core German and European security interests are affected,” her ministry said in a statement.

The warning came as German President Olaf Scholz paid a surprise visit to Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Monday morning to meet his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Baerbock, who arrived in Beijing on Monday for a two-day visit including strategic dialogue at the foreign ministers’ level, had also criticised China for supporting Russia ahead of her trip.

“Instead of shouldering responsibility for peace and security in the world as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China is going against our core European interests by providing economic and military aid to Russia,” she said on Sunday.

“The fact that we cannot simply ignore this in our relations with China is something I will also be discussing in Beijing.”

The German foreign ministry described Monday’s dialogue with Wang as “exhaustive and open”, both on topics where cooperation was possible, as well as on issues where there were clear differences of opinion, especially regarding security and economic policy issues.

“The German foreign minister made clear that there is close European coordination on security and economic issues,” the statement added.