China says it is not deliberately circumventing sanctions on Russia

BEIJING – China is not deliberately circumventing sanctions on Russia, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Saturday, a day after the European Union warned Beijing against allowing Moscow to work around measures imposed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Wang Lutong, director-general of European affairs at China’s foreign ministry, told reporters that China is contributing to the global economy by conducting normal trade with Russia.

“China is not a related party on the crisis of Ukraine. We don’t think our normal trade