European Union criticizes China for training Russian troops in Ukraine

The European Union has confirmed that Chinese military facilities trained hundreds of Russian soldiers, some of whom were subsequently deployed to fight against Ukraine.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas stated on June 15 that Beijing “remains a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine.”

What we know about the training

Reuters reported on May 19 that China’s armed forces had trained around 200 Russian military personnel during 2025. The training took place across multiple Chinese bases, focusing on operational and tactical capabilities, particularly drone warfare and counter-drone measures.

Then on June 12, the EU went further. Brussels confirmed that “China trained Russian soldiers, some of whom have also been deployed in the war directly against Ukraine.”

The diplomatic fallout

Brussels is now reassessing its entire diplomatic approach toward Beijing. The EU is also contemplating tougher measures against Russia as a direct consequence of these findings.

The EU has already imposed multiple rounds of sanctions on Russia since the 2022 invasion. Each successive package has expanded the scope, targeting everything from energy imports to financial institutions to individual oligarchs.

What this means for crypto investors

If the EU follows through on tougher sanctions against Russia, and potentially introduces new restrictions targeting Chinese entities involved in the training, the ripple effects will hit financial markets broadly.

Russia’s experience since 2022 demonstrated how entities under financial restrictions explored digital currencies and decentralized finance as potential workarounds. Any expansion of the sanctions regime, particularly one that now implicates Chinese actors, could reignite that dynamic at a much larger scale.

Tighter sanctions regimes almost always come with tighter compliance requirements for financial intermediaries, including crypto exchanges. Any EU crackdown that expands sanctions could force exchanges operating in European jurisdictions to implement more aggressive screening, potentially reducing liquidity for certain trading pairs while simultaneously driving volume toward decentralized platforms that operate outside regulatory perimeters.

Investors should watch for two specific signals: first, whether the EU announces concrete new sanctions packages in the coming weeks, and second, whether any restrictions explicitly name Chinese defense entities.

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