German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has stepped up his demands that China stops supplying Russia with arms in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. He added that if the suggestion is not taken seriously, there will be “consequences”.
Only two days after his meeting with President Joe Biden in Washington, Scholz made his remarks. They were also preceded by a warning from American officials that China would escalate its involvement in the conflict by giving Moscow weapons and ammunition.
“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,” Scholz said during an interview that aired Sunday.
The German Chancellor made no specific mention of any actions that Germany, NATO, or the EU might take.
Scholz expressed in the interview his reasonable optimism that Beijing won’t supply the weaponry. He also asked Beijing to put pressure on Moscow to get its troops out of Ukraine.
Scholz has now traveled back to Germany, where on Sunday he and his cabinet met with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. He talked more about the probable weapon shipment after the meeting.
German chancellor’s response: “We’re all in agreement that there should be no delivery of weapons, and the Chinese government has said it won’t. We are asking for this and keeping an eye on it.”
The head of the European Commission also spoke, stating that although she has not seen any evidence of China giving Russia weapons, she would keep an eye on the situation.
Von von Leyen added, “We must observe it daily.
The possibility of sanctions by the EU, according to her, “is a hypothetical question that can only be answered if it were to become reality and fact,” she said.
Iran has given Russia weapons and drones, while other European nations and the United States have helped Ukraine by giving it tanks and aircraft.