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China vows to continue buying energy from Russia amid Ukraine crisis
Punitive sanctions on Russia will "further aggravate division and confrontation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters, adding Beijing and Moscow "have always maintained good energy cooperation."
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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian packs up his notes after speaking at the daily media briefing in Beijing on April 8, 2020. (Agence France Presse/Greg Baker)
C
hina on Wednesday expressed its intention to continue buying crude oil and natural gas from Russia, a day after the United States decided to ban Russian oil and other energy imports over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Punitive sanctions on Russia will "further aggravate division and confrontation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters, adding Beijing and Moscow "have always maintained good energy cooperation."
China is Russia's largest energy importer. At a Feb. 4 summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Moscow proposed a new deal to supply Beijing with natural gas.
With the war in Ukraine intensifying, China has been urged by the international community to work to mediate a cease-fire, but it has still refrained from criticizing Moscow's attack, launched in late February.
China might be unwilling to join hands with Western countries in punishing Moscow with sanctions as it could benefit from being the only major economy to maintain trade with Russia, foreign affairs experts said.
