Germany admits ‘consequences’ if China sends weapons to Russia

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged on Sunday there would be “consequences” if China sent weapons to Russia for the war in Ukraine, but expressed hope that Beijing would not.

Scholz’s comments were made in an interview with CNN that aired this Sunday, two days after the German chancellor met with US President Joe Biden in Washington.

US officials recently warned that China could start supplying weapons and ammunition to Moscow for the war in Ukraine.

Before the trip, Scholz urged Beijing to refrain from sending arms and instead use its influence to force Russia to withdraw troops from Ukraine.

Asked by CNN if there will be sanctions against China if it helps Russia, Scholz replied: “I think there will be repercussions, but we are now at a stage where we have made it clear that this should not happen and I am relatively optimistic about that we will fulfill our request. in this case, but we’ll have to look at it, and we’ll have to be very, very careful.”

Scholz did not specify the nature of any consequences.

Germany is Europe’s largest economy, and China has been its most important trading partner in recent years.

Back in Germany and after his office met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Scholz was questioned again about the matter.

“We all agreed that there should be no transfer of weapons, and the Chinese government has said that it will not transfer them,” the chancellor replied. “This is what we demand and see,” he added.

Von der Leyen also said that he “does not yet have any evidence of this”, and about whether the European Union would impose sanctions on China for providing military assistance to Russia, he said that “this is a hypothetical question that can only be answered by if it becomes a reality and a fact.”