CAPRI: The United States urged European powers to increase pressure on China at a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy on Thursday (Apr 18), as Washington accuses Beijing of helping Russia’s military expansion.
The Americans hope in particular that European nations will pressure China to reduce military support for Russia, at a time when, according to Washington, Russian forces are gaining ground in Ukraine following the February 2022 invasion.
In addition to the United States, the G7 countries include Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and Italy, which holds the presidency this year.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who arrived on the Italian resort island of Capri on Wednesday, raised his concerns during a working session devoted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a US diplomatic source.
China is “contributing to Russia’s ability to prosecute” the war in ways that threaten all of Europe, a senior US official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
“In creating this industrial base they are expanding Russia’s ability to produce equipment, produce munitions, and it ought to give one pause about what that capacity is going to be” later, he said.
