China's ambassador to the EU, Fu Kong, said that the invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine has put the Chinese authorities "in a very difficult position", as they do not want to "choose between friends" - Moscow and Kyiv. He said this in an interview with the South China Morning Post.
"We are suffering collateral damage from this crisis. Both Russia and Ukraine are good friends, so we don't want to choose between friends. This is the starting point of our position," Fu Kong said.
According to him, China does not benefit from the war and is not interested in its continuation.
"This crisis has put us in a very difficult political position," the ambassador said.
He also emphasized that such a situation "greatly aggravated" China's relations with Europe.
In particular, Fu Kong said he was "somewhat disappointed" that after 10 months in which Chinese officials expressed support for a peaceful settlement, European countries continue to raise questions about a cooperation agreement with Moscow.
"People are still using this (agreement) to say, 'Oh, China is on the wrong side.' I can understand that immediately after the beginning of the crisis, European countries reflexively said: "How can such an agreement be reached right before the beginning of the crisis?". - The ambassador noted.
At the same time, he stated that China does not provide military assistance to Russia, the government's position was "sufficiently balanced", and they are ready "for any peaceful efforts".
At the same time, the diplomat believes that the US is "taking advantage of this crisis" by selling weapons and profiting from the deterioration of the energy situation in Europe. He assured that China will support all efforts to end hostilities in Ukraine.
"We know that some countries or some people in certain countries do not want an end to hostilities. And we don't think that's right," Fu said.
The ambassador also commented on the question of whether he believes that the United States does not want an end to the war.
"This is our assessment. We know that some people are profiting from this crisis. They sell a huge amount of weapons. And also, in fact, regarding the side effects of this crisis, we know who will benefit from the energy crisis experienced by European countries," he said.
Fu Kong also denies human rights problems in the region, saying that the justification for EU sanctions is based on "numerous misinformation", and he called some of them "outright lies and fabrications".
At the same time, the diplomat called for the simultaneous cancellation of restrictions by Beijing and Brussels.