The head of European diplomacy, Giuseppe Borrell, warned China on Monday against the supply of arms or ammunition to Russia, declaring that in this case it would cross the “red line” of the European Union, at the council of foreign ministers in which the further deployment of military was discussed. of support to Ukraine, just 24 hours before the one-year anniversary of the Russian military’s invasion of Ukrainian territory on February 24, 2022.

The day before Sunday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during an interview accused China of “considering” the possibility of supplying “lethal aid” to Russia and that Washington is concerned about the possibility that Beijing will actually proceed with arms deliveries.

If that happened, Beijing would cross the “red line” the EU has set in its relationship with China, Mr Borrell told the foreign affairs council in Brussels yesterday, adding that he had discussed Mr Blinken and with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi.

He stressed that he expressed his “strong concern” to Mr. Wang and specifically asked Beijing not to give arms to Russia. “He told me they weren’t going to do it,” he added, but “we will remain vigilant.”

A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry yesterday rejected the scenario of arms supplies from Beijing to Moscow, stressing “we do not accept the US criticizing the relations between China and Russia, let alone exerting pressure and coercion”, and accusing Washington of “spreads false information.”

In Brussels, European ministers stressed that efforts to resupply the Ukrainian army must be intensified.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu warned that Ukraine was “running out of shells”, adding that Tallinn was in favor of sending 1 million 155mm shells, worth 4 billion euros, to be bought jointly by member states.

Russia uses as many shells in Ukraine every day as are produced in the EU every month, Mr Reinsalo added, which he called “absolutely unacceptable”.