Germany’s Scholz Warns of ‘Consequences’ if China Sends Arms to Russia

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, welcomes European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a meeting as part of a two-day closed session of the German government at Meseberg Palace near Berlin, March 5, 2023. (VOA News)

BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says there would be “consequences” if China sent weapons to Russia for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, but he’s optimistic that Beijing will refrain from doing so.

Scholz’s comments came in an interview with CNN that aired Sunday, two days after he met U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington.

U.S. officials have warned recently that China could step off the sidelines and begin providing arms and ammunition to Moscow. Ahead of his trip, Scholz had urged Beijing to refrain from sending weapons and instead use its influence to press Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.

Asked by CNN if he could imagine sanctioning China if it did aid Russia, Scholz replied, “I think it would have consequences, but we are now in a stage where we are making clear that this should not happen, and I’m relatively optimistic that we will be successful with our request in this case, but we will have to look at (it) and we have to be very, very cautious.”

He didn’t elaborate on the nature of the consequences. Germany has Europe’s biggest economy, and China has been its single biggest trading partner in recent years.

Back in Germany, Scholz was asked Sunday, after his Cabinet met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen whether he had received concrete evidence from the U.S. that China was considering weapons deliveries and whether he would back sanctions against Beijing if it helped arm Russia.

Read more of this story

Visited 150 times, 1 visit(s) today

Comments are closed.