Germany summons China envoy over Russia training reports

Germany summoned China’s ambassador in Berlin for urgent talks after reports alleged Russian soldiers had been trained in China, the German foreign ministry said Friday. Officials called the reports “deeply disturbing” and said any support that helps Russia sustain its war against Ukraine threatens Germany’s security.

The ministry said the allegations pointed to possible backing for Russia from Chinese state actors, including the People’s Liberation Army. The reports alleged several hundred Russian soldiers had been trained on Chinese territory, with some later deployed in Ukraine.

China reports test Berlin’s security line

The diplomatic escalation comes as Russia claimed its forces had taken full control of Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine, a Donetsk region city that had about 78,000 residents before the war. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the city was under Russian control, but the claim was not independently verified.

Ukrainian officials also reported a Russian glide bomb strike on central Sumy that killed at least four people, including a child, and injured 27. Regional officials said other attacks in Sumy region and southeastern Ukraine brought the day’s death toll to six.

The wider diplomatic field is tightening. Poland’s prime minister said Ukraine is seeking to lower tensions with Warsaw after a dispute over wartime memory, while Lithuania’s president said he wants the country integrated into western nuclear deterrence and has initiated steps to remove a constitutional ban on nuclear weapons deployment.

By July 5, the immediate signal will be whether Berlin moves beyond a diplomatic summons toward coordinated European pressure on Beijing; that would raise the geopolitical cost for China, harden Germany’s Ukraine policy and push European security planning further toward deterrence.