China's comments from the foreign ministry came as a Chinese ambassador appeared to question that sovereignty, drawing ire from several EU countries.
, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that Beijing respected the status of the former Soviet member states as sovereign nations following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Her statement, following the backlash, appeared to be an effort to distance Beijing from Lu's comments and ease the tension with Brussels.The Chinese embassy in Paris issued a statement later to say that Lu's comments on Ukraine "were not a political declaration but an expression of his personal views". It said the comments should not be "over-interpreted".
Luxembourg's foreign minister Jean Asselborn called Lu's remarks a "blunder" and said efforts were being made to calm things down.
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