State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno during a Monday call that Beijing was looking to avoid blowback from ongoing sanctions on Russia.
"China is not a party directly involved in the crisis and it doesn't want to be affected by sanctions even more," Wang said. "China has a right to safeguard its legitimate and lawful rights and interests."
The U.S., European Union and other major governments have subjected Russia to a punishing and unprecedented wave of sanctions since its full-scale military assault on Ukraine, cutting Moscow off from Western financing and sending its ruble plummeting.
As the invasion drags on — and with Russian forces still unable to seize Kyiv, Ukraine's capital — all eyes have turned to see if Beijing will provide Russia with economic and military aid. Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a "no limits" partnership between their two countries in the weeks before Russia's invasion.
Both Russia and China have denied Moscow was approaching Beijing for aid, with China frequently highlighting its humanitarian aid to Ukraine and calls for peace talks. Beijing, which refuses to describe Russia's attack on Ukraine as an invasion, has also criticized the sanctions placed on the regime in general terms.
Wang repeated this stance during his Monday call with Albares Bueno.
"China always opposes the use of sanctions to solve problems, let alone unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law, as such moves will undermine international rules and harm the people's well-being in all countries," Wang said.
Also on Monday, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Politburo member China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi. Though the meeting has been in the works since December 2021, U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price later said the two discussed Ukraine and the consequences of China defying the sanctions on Russia.
"We have communicated very clearly to Beijing that we won't stand by," Price said. "We will not allow any country to compensate Russia for its losses."
--Editing by Lakshna Mehta.
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