Moscow, Feb 25 (Agency) China’s decision to ease restrictions on Russia’s wheat imports at a time when the Russian military operation in Ukraine is underway is unacceptable, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday. On Thursday, China’s General Administration of Customs said that it had approved imports of wheat from all over Russia. “At a time when the world was seeking to put additional sanctions on Russia, they have eased restrictions on trade of Russian wheat into China. So at a time when Australia, together with the United Kingdom, together with the United States and Europe and Japan, are acting to cut off Russia, the Chinese Government is following through on easing trade restrictions with Russia, and that is simply unacceptable,”
Morrison told a press conference. Russian and Chinese presidents, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, respectively, met in Beijing on February 4 for the opening of the 2022 Winter Olympics. After the meeting, Moscow and Beijing adopted bilateral agreements expanding the list and volume of grain supplied from Russia to China. In particular, they allowed for wheat and barley to be supplied to China from all over Russia. In the early hours on Thursday, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested assistance. The move prompted backlash from the West, which has intensified sanction policies against Russia.