(Reuters) – Beijing is under unprecedented pressure from the United States and the European Union to get tough with Moscow, the Kremlin said on Thursday, commenting on the refusal of some Chinese banks to accept payments from Russia.
In January, Russian businessmen drew attention to problems with agreements with Chinese banks. The United States is threatening banks in countries like Turkey and China with secondary sanctions for facilitating trade with Russia.
The Izvestia newspaper, citing market sources, said on Thursday that Chinese banks Ping An Bank and Bank of Ningbo had stopped processing payments in Chinese currency from Russia.
The newspaper also reported that DBS Bank, Great Wall West China Bank and China Zheshang Bank had introduced some restrictions on operations with Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the situation with the Chinese banks had caused problems, but said that they could be overcome.
“Of course, the unprecedented pressure from the United States and the European Union on the People’s Republic of China continues, including in the context of relations with us,” Peskov said in a daily conference call with reporters.
“This, of course, creates certain problems, but it cannot become an obstacle to the further development of our trade and economic relations (with China),” Peskov said, adding that Russia and China could overcome these obstacles.
Russia has become one of the main exporters of oil to China as it shuns trade from Europe, which imposed sweeping sanctions against Moscow after the start of what the Kremlin called a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.