China is ready to throw Russia an economic lifeline as Vladimir Putin’s ties with the west deteriorate and Moscow is hit by snowballing sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine.
Putin ordered the start of a military invasion of Ukraine on Thursday and demanded Kyiv’s army lay down its weapons, just a day after the west imposed new sanctions on Russia.
US president Joe Biden said he would meet G7 counterparts on Thursday morning and would reveal further measures to punish Russia for the invasion.
Financial analysts and geopolitical experts believed China would probably help Russia weather those sanctions, mostly through resource deals and lending by several state-owned banks, while seeking to avoid damage to its own economic and financial interests.
“The level of Chinese support for Russian actions could be an influential factor in shaping an evolving crisis,” said Tom Rafferty, a Beijing-based analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Since Russia concentrated 190,000 troops near the Ukraine border, Beijing has tried to strike a balance between Chinese president Xi Jinping’s backing of Putin and Beijing’s self-interest in the region’s stability.
In the hours after the invasion started, Zhang Jun, China’s envoy to the UN, said the “door to a peaceful solution” was not yet fully shut and urged all parties to exercise restraint.
However, a day earlier, Beijing reaffirmed its opposition to “all illegal unilateral sanctions”.
“Since 2011, the US has imposed more than 100 sanctions on Russia,” Hua Chunying, a foreign ministry spokesperson, told reporters in Beijing.
“However, have the US sanctions solved any problem? Is the world a better place because of those sanctions? Will the Ukraine issue resolve itself thanks to the US sanctions on Russia? Will European security be better guaranteed thanks to the US sanctions on Russia?”