The European Union has denied claims by China that its top diplomat Josep Borrell “attached great importance” to a Sino-Brazilian statement on ending the war in Ukraine, according to a report by the South China Morning Post, which said that while the EU had asked China to help ending the conflict, it was concerned about escalating shipments of dual-use items to Russia.
The Chinese foreign ministry has been accused of trying to “put words in Europe’s mouths” and trying to sabotage a peace summit in Geneva last week, it said, adding that EU sources insist that “Borrell did not make such a statement.”
The dispute comes at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping “is attempting to position himself as a peacemaker in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, despite criticism from the US and Europe,” according to the Japan Times, which noted that both Russia and Ukraine have signalled a willingness to negotiate.
China had also dispatched an envoy to Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia to build conditions for peace talks, it said, as these nations had not imposed sanctions on Russia, it said.
These reports emerged on a day when Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is currently in Beijing seeking better terms for Italian firms in China, told reporters that China’s economic support of the Russian war effort against Ukraine is a source of “great friction,” according to a report by Reuters.
Read the full report: South China Morning Post.
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