China under ‘unprecedented pressure’ from US, EU over Russian payments: Kremlin

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – China is currently under “unprecedented pressure” from the US and the European Union over its banks accepting payments from Russian companies, the Kremlin said Thursday.

“Of course, unprecedented pressure from the United States and the European Union on China continues, including in the context of relations with us,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a press briefing in Moscow.

Peskov said that this creates “certain problems, but it will not become an obstacle to the further development of trade and economic relations” between Russia and China.

The spokesman further said that they have the necessary potential to overcome these difficulties thanks to the high-level ties between Moscow and Beijing, as well as the “special nature” of their relationship.

Earlier, a report in Russia’s Izvestia newspaper said that payments in yuan from Russia have stopped going through several Chinese banks due to tightening sanctions against Moscow.

Peskov also touched on the issue of the confiscation of Russian assets in the West, saying that Moscow will use “all possible judicial mechanisms” to respond.

“We will use all possible judicial mechanisms, those that are available now and those that will become available in the future,” he said.

Peskov further expressed that they will not mirror the steps taken by the West but rather use other methods for “retaliatory” action “to the extent that it corresponds to our interests.”