China has privately warned the European Union that it cannot allow Russia to lose the Ukraine war, according to an official briefed on the meeting. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made this clear during a four-hour talk with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in Brussels.

Beijing believes that the US would soon turn its full attention eastward if Russia loses in Ukraine, said a report.

China cannot afford for Russia to lose the war in Ukraine, Beijing’s foreign minister has said, in unguarded comments to European officials.