Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said China would face consequences if it were to consider shipping weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine amid broader US warnings that Beijing may begin offering Moscow military aid.
(Bloomberg) — Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said China would face consequences if it were to consider shipping weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine amid broader US warnings that Beijing may begin offering Moscow military aid.
“What I will convey to each of the colleagues, including my Chinese colleague here, is that the truth here is not somewhere in the middle, there is only one country responsible and that is Russia,” Hoekstra told reporters on the sidelines of the Group of 20 foreign ministers’ summit in New Delhi. Helping Moscow militarily “will have consequences if countries crossed that line, in my opinion.”
Hoekstra’s comments come amid the US accusations that Beijing is considering offering lethal aid to Russia despite warnings from Washington. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said doing so would significantly impact ties between the two nations.
President Joe Biden said Friday he did not anticipate China would provide “major” assistance to Russia in the form of weapons to aid Moscow in its war against Ukraine, but warned any such action would draw a US response.
A senior State Department official told reporters on Wednesday that American officials would bring the issue up in meetings on the sidelines of the G-20 on Thursday, including with countries other than the close partners and allies it has already briefed on the matter.
Hoekstra, who is meeting Blinken later Thursday afternoon, said the two planned to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine and other pressing global issues, including “global stability and stability here in the region.”
(Updates with Biden statement in the fourth paragraph)
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