EU Foreign Policy Chief Accuses China of Enabling Russia’s War in Ukraine to Distract the United States
Brussels – October 31, 2025
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has accused China of playing a pivotal role in sustaining Russia’s war in Ukraine. Speaking during a press briefing in Brussels, Kallas asserted that Beijing’s support for Moscow is part of a calculated strategy to keep the United States militarily and diplomatically entangled in Europe, diverting its focus from the Asia-Pacific region.
Kallas’s remarks mark one of the EU’s strongest statements yet on China’s involvement in the nearly four-year conflict, signaling growing unease among European policymakers about Beijing’s long-term geopolitical motives.
China as “Key Enabler” of Russia’s War
In her comments, Kallas described China as “the key enabler of this war,” underscoring how economic, technological, and strategic cooperation between Beijing and Moscow has allowed Russia to circumvent Western sanctions and sustain its war machine.
She claimed that Chinese-supplied dual-use components — items that can serve both civilian and military purposes — have reached Russia despite previous denials from Chinese authorities. Western intelligence agencies have corroborated similar findings in recent months, citing evidence of microchips, navigation systems, and industrial equipment being rerouted through intermediaries in Central Asia.
“China understands that if the United States were not drawn into defending Europe’s stability, it would have more resources to focus on the Indo-Pacific. Their calculus is to keep Washington busy on this front,” Kallas said.
Her remarks mirror earlier disclosures that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly told EU counterparts Beijing cannot accept a Russian defeat, as it would enable Washington to redirect attention toward containing China’s rise in the Pacific theater.
Beijing’s Stance: Official Neutrality, Strategic Alignment
While China continues to claim neutrality in the conflict and calls for peace negotiations, its actions and rhetoric increasingly align with Moscow’s interests. Beijing has maintained strong trade relations with Russia despite the sweeping sanctions imposed by the West, becoming Moscow’s main economic lifeline.
In 2024, Chinese exports to Russia reportedly rose by nearly 40 percent year-over-year, with significant growth in machinery and electronics. At the same time, Russia has become a top supplier of discounted oil and gas to China, providing a crucial energy cushion amid global supply volatility.
Analysts argue that such dynamics have transformed the China-Russia partnership into a pragmatic alliance built on shared opposition to Western dominance. The deepening links have drawn concern from both sides of the Atlantic, as European leaders increasingly perceive Beijing’s “non-neutrality” as a deliberate geopolitical strategy rather than passive economic opportunism.
Europe’s Strategic Dilemma
Kallas’s call for Europe to “raise the cost” on China underscores the EU’s ongoing struggle to balance economic interdependence with growing strategic competition. The European Union remains China’s second-largest trade partner, and several member states have significant exposure to Chinese markets in sectors such as automotive manufacturing, renewable energy, and advanced electronics.
Implementing stronger measures against Beijing, such as export controls or sanctions, could therefore carry economic risks. Yet several European governments are shifting toward a more hardline stance as evidence mounts of China’s indirect support for Russia’s war.
Germany, France, and the Netherlands have tightened scrutiny of technology exports to China, while the European Commission is preparing new instruments aimed at preventing the circumvention of sanctions through third countries. Kallas emphasized that the EU must act “with unity and purpose” to prevent what she called “strategic exploitation” by authoritarian powers.
“We cannot allow our own economic interests to fund threats to European security,” she stated.
The Broader Geopolitical Context
The accusation against Beijing comes at a moment of acute strain in global power relations. Russia’s war in Ukraine has reshaped the security architecture of Europe, while intensifying alignments between non-Western powers. Alongside China and Russia, Iran and North Korea have emerged as critical suppliers of weapons and technology to Moscow’s military effort.
The convergence of these states reflects an unprecedented realignment. Shared goals include countering Western sanctions, developing parallel financial systems, and undermining the influence of Western-led alliances such as NATO and the G7.
For China, the calculus appears multi-layered. By ensuring that Russia remains militarily viable but not dominant, Beijing both challenges Western unity and ensures Moscow’s growing dependence on Chinese goods, technology, and markets. This asymmetric relationship gives China expanded leverage in Eurasia while maintaining plausible deniability regarding direct support for the war.
The U.S. Factor: A Global Balancing Act
Kallas’s remarks specifically framed China’s strategy as one aimed at weakening American global leadership. Washington has doubled down on both European defense commitments and Indo-Pacific deterrence efforts, seeking to manage what U.S. officials describe as the "dual challenge" of Russia and China.
Yet the prolonged Ukrainian war has consumed extensive American resources and political attention. Congress continues to debate long-term funding for Kyiv, while military planners warn that stretched stockpiles of ammunition and defense components could affect preparedness in the Pacific.
In this context, European officials interpret China’s endurance strategy as a deliberate move to exhaust Western unity and delay any shift of American strategic bandwidth toward Asia.
Historical Parallels and European Response
Observers have drawn parallels between the current alignment and Cold War-era proxy conflicts, when superpowers indirectly confronted each other through local wars and client states. The modern version, according to European diplomats, differs in its economic sophistication — with globalized trade networks and advanced technologies acting as the main channels for influence.
Across the EU, calls are mounting for a new approach that integrates economic security with defense policy. Kallas and other European policymakers advocate for diversifying supply chains, fortifying domestic production of critical materials, and aligning technology standards with NATO partners.
The broader aim is to prevent dependency vulnerabilities that could be exploited by states perceived as adversarial. The European Commission’s recently announced “Resilient Europe 2030” initiative reflects this shift, emphasizing industrial competitiveness and defense cooperation among member states.
Economic Impact of Prolonged Conflict
The continuing war in Ukraine, coupled with China’s involvement, has deepened economic uncertainty worldwide. Europe faces persistent inflation tied to energy and grain supply disruption, while defense spending has surged to post–Cold War highs.
For China, the war has created both opportunities and risks. Beijing’s position as Russia’s dominant trade partner provides economic benefits but also exposes it to reputational damage and potential secondary sanctions from the EU and United States. Many analysts believe that such a dynamic increasingly puts Beijing in a difficult position: maintaining ties with Moscow while managing relationships with Western trading partners that remain vital to its growth.
Meanwhile, for Ukraine, Chinese support for Russia indirectly lengthens the war, compounding humanitarian crises and reconstruction challenges. Estimates by international institutions suggest that Ukraine will require hundreds of billions of euros in recovery funds once hostilities cease.
Europe’s Security Future
Kallas concluded her remarks by emphasizing that “a strong, self-reliant, and well-equipped Ukraine is Europe’s best guarantee for security.” She reiterated that the EU, together with allies including the United States, must not tire in providing financial and military aid.
Her warning comes amid concerns that fatigue could erode Western unity as the war drags on. European leaders plan to revisit their collective defense posture at the upcoming security summit, where strategies for deterring hybrid threats from state and non-state actors are expected to dominate the agenda.
As the geopolitical landscape continues to shift, Kallas’s statements highlight Europe’s urgent reassessment of its place in a world increasingly defined by strategic competition between major powers.
The accusation that China is enabling Russia’s war underscores a central question facing global diplomacy today: how to navigate an emerging international order where economic power, military rivalry, and ideological struggle intersect more closely than at any time in recent history.