Berlin: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says there will be "consequences" if China provides arms to Russia for its conflict in Ukraine, but he is sure Beijing will not do so.
He made the comments in an interview with CNN that aired on Sunday, two days after Scholz met US President Joe Biden in Washington. US officials have recently issued warnings that China may go ashore and begin supplying arms and ammunition to Moscow.
Scholz had urged Beijing to use its influence to pressure Russia into withdrawing its troops from Ukraine rather than sending arms ahead of his visit.
Responding to a question from CNN about the possibility of sanctions being imposed on China for supporting Russia, Scholz said: "I think there will be consequences, but we are now at a stage where we are making it clear that It shouldn't happen, and I'm relatively optimistic that we will be successful with our request in this case, but we have to watch (it) and we have to be very, very cautious."
He did not mention any further specifics of the results. Germany has the largest economy in Europe and China has been its top trading partner over the years.
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After his cabinet meeting with the European Commission's Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday, Scholz was questioned back in Germany about whether he had received concrete evidence from the US that China was considering an arms deal and whether He will support sanctions against Beijing if it helps arm Russia.
The Chinese government has said that it will not supply any weapons and we all agree that no weapons should be distributed. We are demanding it and keeping an eye on it. He refrained from discussing the issue of sanctions.
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"We don't have any evidence of this so far, but we should see it every day," von der Leyen said. According to him, the question of whether the EU will punish China for providing military aid to Russia is hypothetical and can only be answered if it actually happens.