China’s liaisons with Russia are fueling an awkward split among European leaders

BRUSSELS — China’s relationship with Russia is causing unease and division in the European Union, with some in the bloc arguing that it’s time to rethink their ties to Beijing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Russia earlier this week, where both leaders shared mutual concerns, warm words and called one another “dear friend.” Speaking alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping predicted voters would re-elect his Russian counterpart next year and described his leadership as “strong.”

Their conversations are closely followed by officials in the U.S. and the EU, particularly in terms of potential military support that Beijing may give to Moscow, which could materially help the latter in making advancements with its war in Ukraine.

However, more broadly, the stronger ties between Moscow and Beijing are creating problems within the European Union, which has thus far looked to strengthen its own economic links with China.

There’s a school of thought that the EU needs to tightly curb its relationship with Beijing — something that the United States would welcome. But some EU leaders would instead prefer to be careful with their words and actions in case they antagonize Beijing.

Xi’s visit to Russia “is a little bit of an eye opener for us in Europe,” Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš, the prime minister of Latvia, told CNBC Thursday.

“If maybe many, many people were hoping that China could somehow be or take the role of a [peace] broker, China’s not doing this at all. China is certainly moving right now overtly on the side of Russia. And this is actually a very big challenge and a big difficulty for all of us,” he said.

Last month, China presented a 12-point plan for peace between Russia and Ukraine. The plan fails to specify whether Russia needs to leave the territory of…