Germany’s Scholz to address drones for Russia with China’s Xi

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday he would discuss the delivery of dual-use goods with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit, following a report that a Chinese factory is producing military drones for Russia.

Russia has established a weapons programme in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in its war against Ukraine, two sources from a European intelligence agency told Reuters in a report published in September.

The European Union has repeatedly urged all countries, including China, not to provide material or other support for Russia, which began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Earlier in the day, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Chinese drone aid “must and will have consequences”.

Scholz, asked if he agreed with his minister and would discuss the issue with Xi, said he had always warned against deliveries of lethal weapons to Russia and touched on the topic of dual-use goods in such talks.

“I have always addressed the issue of so-called dual-use goods, because there are different practices, but we must not be naive,” Scholz said. He added that he would also tell Xi it was unacceptable that North Korean soldiers were being deployed in the war against Ukraine, and that it was a “terrible change”.

Asked about the U.S. decision to authorise long-range Ukrainian airstrikes on Russia, Scholz said Germany would not follow suit, or send Ukraine long-range Taurus cruise missiles.

The Taurus missiles could only be deployed if Germany shared responsibility for target control, he said, de facto making it a party to war. “That is something I cannot and do not want to do,” said Scholz.

“At the same time we have a clear idea that the powerful weapons we have supplied so far … cannot be used to penetrate deep into the Russian hinterland,” he said, noting he had made an exemption for Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine since attacks on the city had come from just across the nearby Russian border.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke in Rio de Janeiro, Miranda Murray and Sarah Marsh in Berlin; editing by Mark Heinrich)