China firmly denied having provided fatal weapons to Russia, rejecting the complaints made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Beijing sent artillery and other military equipment to Moscow.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian, journalists told Beijing on Friday, had no deadly aid to the parties involved in the Ukrainian conflict.
“The Chinese part has never provided fatal weapons to a part of the conflict and strictly controls the articles with double use,” said Lin, according to AFP.
The remarks one day came after President Zelensky said that the Ukrainian security service had obtained information suggesting that Chinese artillery was provided to Russia.
He also alleged that certain Chinese weapons were produced on Russian soil, although he did not provide additional details.
“Some weapons are already produced in the territory of Russia. We can provide more details next week,” Zelensky said on a briefing on Thursday.
Lin reiterated that the position of China on the war in Ukraine has remained “consistent and clear” and that the country had “always actively made efforts for a cessation of hostilities and peace talks”.
This marks the second time in April that Zelensky questioned China’s neutrality in war. Last week, he accused Russia of using platforms like Tiktok to recruit Chinese nationals in his soldiers.
He also said that two Chinese citizens had been captured by Ukrainian forces while he was fighting alongside the Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.
Beijing replied by denying that he had sent citizens to participate in the war and said that he “still advises Chinese nationals to avoid any form of involvement in foreign conflicts”.
China has maintained that it plays a neutral role in war, often calling for dialogue and peace efforts while opposing Western sanctions against Russia. However, the Western nations have repeatedly expressed concerns about the supply of economic and diplomatic ties of Beijing with Moscow in the middle of the current conflict.
