Arming Russia would harm China’s relations with Europe, UK’s Lammy warns Bejing

UK Foreign Minister David Lammy, on his first visit to Beijing, expressed concern over China's support for Russia in the war the latter is waging against Ukraine.

This is reported by Euronews, Ukrinform saw.

On October 18, Lammy met with Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang and held talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

According to the statement from the UK Foreign Ministry, the government emphasized that interaction with China is "pragmatic and necessary." At the same time, Lammy called on his Chinese counterpart to prevent Chinese companies from supplying weapons to the Russian military.

Lammy “stated how both the U.K. and China have a shared interest in European peace and ending the war. He reaffirmed that concerns over China’s supply of equipment to Russia’s military industrial complex risks damaging China’s relationships with Europe whilst helping to sustain Russia’s war.

FM urged Wang to "take all measures to investigate and to prevent Chinese companies from supplying Russia’s military," the statement said. Both sides agreed to continue discussing this and other geopolitical issues.

Lammy's two-day visit is an attempt to reset relations with Beijing after they have cooled in recent years over espionage allegations, China's support for Russia in the war in Ukraine, and a crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony, the media outlet said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, after the United States repeatedly called China out for supplying Russia with dual-purpose components used to assemble weapons and military equipment, Washington also exposed China for handing the Russians ready-made combat drones.

Photo: gov.uk