(Bloomberg) -- China’s growing assistance to Russia for its war in Ukraine “will and must have consequences,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned as top European Union diplomats met in Brussels Monday.
Ukraine’s allies have been collecting intelligence about China’s alleged support to Russia’s drone program, which is a key topic of conversation in the meeting. No formal decisions related to Beijing are expected.
The EU is trying to crack down on countries aiding Russia’s war effort. On Monday, it approved steps to widen sanctions against Iran for supporting Moscow, including banning transactions with ports used to transfer missiles or drones or related technology.
The latest conversations on China’s role come after Bloomberg reported in July that Chinese and Russian companies are developing an attack drone similar to an Iranian model deployed in Ukraine. This raised fears that Beijing may be edging closer to providing the sort of lethal aid that western officials have warned against.
China is already the main Russian source for many restricted dual-use goods — key technologies and electronics used in weapons or needed to make them — and the EU and its allies have sanctioned several Chinese companies.
“We are portraying weakness, we have to stand firm. Especially since in this we have a very strong transatlantic partnership possibility,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said, pointing to the US’s hawkish stance toward China.
“We could send a very strong message that this is not something we would allow. If we’re not doing this, it helps consolidating this chaos coalition that Russia is forming,” he added.
--With assistance from Katharina Rosskopf, Lyubov Pronina and Alberto Nardelli.
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