EU presses China on rare earths and Ukraine

3/7/2025 6:15

The European Union's top

diplomat urged China's foreign minister on Wednesday to end

restrictions on rare earths exports and warned that Chinese

firms' support for Russia's war in Ukraine posed a serious

threat to European security, the EU said.



The statement from the EU's diplomatic service came after

Kaja Kallas, the bloc's high representative for foreign policy,

met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Brussels.



Kallas "called on China to put an end to its distortive

practices, including its restrictions on rare earths exports,

which pose significant risks to European companies and endanger

the reliability of global supply chains," the EU said.



On trade, Kallas urged "concrete solutions to rebalance the

economic relationship, level the playing field and improve

reciprocity in market access".



She also "highlighted the serious threat Chinese companies'

support for Russia’s illegal war poses to European security".



China says it does not provide military support to Russia

for the war in Ukraine. But European officials say Chinese

companies provide many of the vital components for Russian

drones and other weapons used in Ukraine.



Kallas called on China "to immediately cease all material

support that sustains Russia’s military industrial complex" and

support "a full and unconditional ceasefire" and a "just and

lasting peace in Ukraine".



Wednesday's discussions were to lay the groundwork for a

summit between EU and Chinese leaders later this month.



Wang also met earlier in the day with European Council

President Antonio Costa as part of those preparations.



In that meeting, Wang called on both sides to respect each

other's core interests and increase mutual understanding, adding

that "unilateralism and acts of bullying have seriously

undermined the international order and rules," according to a

Chinese foreign ministry statement.



EU officials had said they would use the meeting between

Kallas and Wang to urge China to use its influence as Iran's

main oil buyer to press Tehran to make a deal over its nuclear

programme and de-escalate conflict in the Middle East.



The EU statement did not say whether those efforts had borne

any fruit.



But it said Kallas and Wang "agreed on the importance of the

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as the cornerstone of the

global nuclear non-proliferation regime".



The EU and Britain, France and Germany are parties to a 2015

nuclear deal with Iran that Washington abandoned in 2018, which

they hope to revive. Iran has always said its nuclear programme

is peaceful and denies seeking a weapon.



Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

will travel to China for the summit with Chinese President Xi

Jinping and Premier Li Qiang on July 24-25.