By Andreas Rinke
BERLIN, July 3 (Reuters) – Germany requested urgent talks with the Chinese ambassador over reports that China is training Russian soldiers, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday, confirming a report by the Spiegel media outlet.
It comes two days after Reuters reported that China covertly trained Russian forces last year with the personal approval of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s defence minister.
The Chinese Embassy could not be reached for comment on Friday but previously called the allegations unfounded.
“Anything that enables Russia to continue its war of aggression against Ukraine also threatens our security,” a German foreign ministry source said. “Consequently, China’s decisive and growing support for Russia’s brutal war of aggression directly impacts our security.”
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Matthias Williams, Editing by Linda Pasquini, Kirsti Knolle)
