EU says it has proof China trained Russian troops for war in Ukraine - Media
Photo: Kaja Kallas (Getty Images)
They stressed that the services had confirmed that such training was taking place at several locations in China and that hundreds of people were involved, adding that this contradicted what had previously been communicated by the Chinese side.
European foreign ministers plan to discuss this situation and further engagement with Beijing in detail on Monday at a meeting in Luxembourg.
Officials will focus primarily on foreign and defense policy issues. In particular, the ministers will raise the issue of the European defense industry’s dependence on Chinese supply chains and economic actors. The agenda will also include discussion of the EU’s collective interests in the event of a possible crisis in the Far East region.
During the meeting, the High Representative of the European Union, Kaja Kallas, is expected to stress that a key factor in relations with such a powerful partner as China is the internal unity of the entire EU.
Reuters previously reported that at the end of last year, China secretly trained around 200 Russian soldiers on its territory, some of whom later returned to participate in combat operations against Ukraine.
At the same time, Beijing has denied such reports of covert training of Russian soldiers, calling such claims attempts to shift responsibility for the war in Ukraine.
In addition, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov commented on the alleged secret training of Russian troops in China, saying that such reports do not correspond to reality and should be treated critically.
The outlet Welt reported that among the Russian soldiers allegedly secretly trained by China could have been drone operators from the elite Rubikon unit.
