5th September 2025
Beijing said Friday it “strongly opposes” calls to put economic pressure on China, after US President Donald Trump urged European countries to do so over the war in Ukraine.
China has never denounced Russia’s war nor called for it to withdraw its troops, and many of Ukraine’s allies believe that Beijing has provided support to Moscow.
China insists it is a neutral party, regularly calling for an end to the fighting while also accusing Western countries of prolonging the conflict by arming Ukraine.
Speaking by video conference with European leaders gathered in Paris on Thursday, Trump urged them to put pressure on China, and also said “Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil that is funding the war”, a senior White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
China’s President Xi Jinping stood next to Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a huge military parade on Wednesday, marking 80 years since the end of World War II, a move criticised by the European Union’s top diplomat, among others.
Beijing has said its invitation of “foreign guests” was to “work together with peace-loving countries and peoples to remember history”.
Asked twice by a journalist on Friday to answer “yes” or “no” as to whether China considered Putin’s Russia a “peace-loving country”, spokesman Guo declined to directly answer.
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