France summoned the Chinese ambassador to Paris, Lu Shaye, on Monday to explain his controversial remarks on French television questioning the sovereignty of post-Soviet nations. The Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, said that they would also send China’s envoys to the three countries to discuss the matter.

China’s foreign ministry tried to repair the damage on Monday, insisting that it recognised the sovereignty of all the former Soviet republics that have declared independence, including Ukraine.

“China respects the sovereign status of former Soviet republics after the Soviet Union’s dissolution,” said the ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning, speaking at a news briefing in Beijing. Asked if Lu’s comments on Friday represented official policy, Mao responded: “I can tell you what I stated just now represents the official position of the Chinese government.”

She added: “China’s stance on the relevant issues hasn’t changed,” and noted that China was one of the first countries to establish relations with all the “relevant countries” after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.

The recent rhetorical gyrations of Chinese diplomats — including Lu and Fu Cong, the Chinese ambassador to the EU — suggest that Beijing is still struggling to strike a balance between courting European leaders and supporting Russia, with which it has declared a “no limits” partnership. The war in Ukraine has put Beijing in an awkward position: It has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion while also promising not to help Russia militarily in its war.

Lu sparked widespread consternation when asked on the French television station, TF1, whether Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, was part of Ukraine under international law. He said that Crimea was Russian historically and had been handed over to Ukraine. He added: “Even these countries of the former Soviet Union do not have an effective status in international law, since there is no international agreement that would specify their status as sovereign countries.”

Fu Cong, China’s ambassador to the EU, by contrast, told The New York Times in an interview this month that China did not recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea or of parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, instead recognising Ukraine within its internationally accepted borders, in line with Mao’s remarks on Monday.

But Fu also said that Beijing had not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine because it understood Russia’s claims about its being a defensive war against Nato encroachment, and because his government believes “the root causes are more complicated” than western leaders say.

Still, Lu’s comments have caused confusion and anger in Ukraine and the EU, especially among those countries of Eastern and Central Europe that were under Soviet rule or occupation. The Baltic nations, which were annexed by the Soviet Union after World War II, are especially sensitive to any suggestion that their sovereignty is under question.

At a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, Lithuania’s foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, said that the Chinese ambassadors would be asked to explain if the “Chinese position has changed on independence and to remind them that we’re not post-Soviet countries, but we’re the countries that were illegally occupied by Soviet Union”.

His Estonian counterpart, Margus Tsahkna, said that he wanted to know “why China has such a position or comments about the Baltic States”, which are all members of the EU and Nato. Mao’s comments were not sufficient, he said.