China has denied claims by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas that Russian soldiers were trained on Chinese soil for the war in Ukraine.
"These claims have no factual basis," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in Beijing on Tuesday, adding that the statements were pure slander and defamatory.
Kallas said at an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg on Monday that the European Union had verified reports that the Chinese military had trained Russian military personnel to fight in Ukraine.
She said the possible consequences were now being carefully examined.
An EU official said that these training activities had taken place at several locations in China and that several hundred Russian soldiers had been trained. He said some of them were later deployed in the war against Ukraine.
China has not condemned Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine so far and is, through its stance, lending Moscow support.
It has also repeatedly been accused of supporting Russia's military industry by supplying key dual-use goods that can be used for civilian but also military purposes.
