Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the European Union’s foreign-policy chief, Kaja Kallas, during a four-hour meeting in Brussels on 2 July that Beijing “cannot afford” a Russian defeat in Ukraine because such an outcome would allow the United States to turn its full strategic attention to China, according to officials briefed on the exchange and reports in the South China Morning Post later confirmed by CNN. The admission startled several EU officials, who said it contrasted with China’s public claims of neutrality in the three-year war. Wang also rejected accusations that Beijing is financing or arming Moscow, arguing that if China were materially supporting Russia the conflict would already be over. Asked about the reports on 4 July, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning reiterated China’s stated position that it is not a party to the conflict and continues to advocate negotiations, a cease-fire and a political settlement. She did not address Wang’s private remarks. The disclosure comes weeks before an EU-China summit and as Washington intensifies scrutiny of Chinese companies allegedly supplying dual-use goods to Russia. Diplomats in Brussels said Wang’s candid assessment may complicate efforts to enlist Beijing’s help in ending the war while underscoring how the conflict serves Beijing’s wider contest with Washington in the Indo-Pacific.