This opinion was expressed on the air of Espreso by Natalia Butyrska, an expert on East Asia issues and a senior analyst at the New Europe Center."The EU is well aware that China is behind Russia. Moreover, in conversations about China's influence on Russia, the DPRK is also mentioned. In particular, the DPRK must be stopped from strengthening cooperation with the Russian Federation. Obviously, the point is that the EU is aware of China's influence on North Korea," Butyrska said.The expert emphasized that the European Union remains a key economic partner for China. In a certain sense, China is now dependent on trade with the EU."The EU really does not have a large set of methods to stop China. However, China is still trying to keep a good face during this war and not switch to direct military assistance to Russia. The reason for this is that Beijing is still very focused on trade with the EU, in a certain aspect they are even dependent on it. Since the trade balance between the EU and China is over 700 billion euros. For China, the European Union is the number one trading partner. Against the backdrop of US pressure and the confrontation with Trump, it is obvious that China cannot afford to lose such large markets. Accordingly, Beijing is trying to conduct a dialogue and pursue a restrained policy in support of Russia. However, this support is enough for Russia to continue the war of attrition and, unfortunately, Beijing is also behind the cooperation between the Russian Federation and the DPRK," she added.In February, Estonian intelligence reported that China is helping Russia in the production of military drones by supplying critically important Western components.On July 24, Reuters, citing three European security officials, reported that Chinese engines are being secretly supplied to a Russian state-owned drone manufacturer through shell companies disguised as industrial refrigeration units to circumvent Western sanctions. On Thursday, July 24, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.