"Forget about decoupling [with China]. Nobody is preaching decoupling anymore, not even the US," Borrell said during a high-level policy dialogue held by the European Policy Centre.
"Decoupling would be a catastrophe for the world economy. Now it is de-risking. What does it mean? Well, in a less concentrated manner, reduce excessive dependencies."
In April, European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said the EU was heading toward better risk management in economic relations with Beijing rather than decoupling from it since the bloc seeks to avoid "strategic dependency" from this country.
Borrell also indicated that some EU member states oppose sanctions against Russia because they fear the measures imposed could backfire on the bloc.
"Some member states are not convinced of the sanctions [against Russia]. They blame the sanctions, they don’t block it, they vote in favor, but when they discuss politically, they say, 'I am against it, we should not do it.' Why not? 'Because it backslashes against us,'" Borrell said.
Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its special military operation in Ukraine and increased pressure on other states that cooperate with Moscow. They have also threatened to impose secondary sanctions on countries that allegedly help Moscow evade restrictions.
On May 8, the European Commission confirmed that the proposal for the 11th package of sanctions against Russia had been sent to EU member states. According to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, it will allow EU states to ban the export of a number of goods to third countries if they are suspected of being involved in circumventing sanctions against Moscow.