Ukraine has imposed sanctions on three Chinese companies after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused China of supplying weapons to Russia and taking part in joint weapons production on Russian soil.
The announcement came one day after Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence had confirmed that Chinese entities were providing artillery and gunpowder to Russian forces. He said that some Chinese personnel were directly involved in weapons manufacturing inside Russia.
“In any case, we have facts about this work of China and Russia to strengthen their defense capabilities.”
Zelenskyy said he previously asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping to commit to not arming Russia. Zelenskyy said that Xi had previously pledged not to supply weapons to Russia, but Ukraine has since obtained intelligence indicating that commitment was not upheld.
The Ukrainian president said he expects to release more specific documentation in the coming days and accused Beijing of crossing a line from passive neutrality into active military cooperation.
“It’s one thing when products appear on global arms markets,“ Zelenskyy said. ”It’s another when there’s direct collaboration. We’ve seen that collaboration.”
Beijing has since denied the allegations. On April 18, foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian dismissed the claims as “groundless accusations and political manipulation.”
“Russia’s involvement of China—whether directly or indirectly—in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war,” he said at the time.
