China Denies Supplying Weapons to Russia

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s accusations of supplying weapons to Russia “groundless.”

Reuters reported on this, citing a statement by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian made during a press conference.

The spokesperson denied the accusations, stating that China has never provided lethal weapons to either side of the war.

“China’s position on the Ukrainian issue has always been clear,” Lin said. “It has been actively committed to promoting a ceasefire and ending the conflict, as well as encouraging peace talks.”

China opposes groundless accusations and political manipulation, he said, adding that Ukraine said publicly that most of the components in weapons imported by Russia came from the United States and other Western nations.

The response from Chinese diplomats came a day after President Zelensky publicly accused China for the first time of supporting Russia’s military aggression by supplying weapons.

As previously reported, during a briefing in Kyiv on April 17, the President of Ukraine stated that evidence had emerged of China supplying weapons to the Russian Federation.

“Today we have general information from the Security Service and intelligence regarding gunpowder and artillery,” Zelensky said, adding that more details will be disclosed next week.

A year ago, Militarnyi reported that Russia began using 122mm artillery shells that resemble Chinese-made shells.

The long-range artillery OF-56IM-1m 122mm high-explosive shells, which the Russian army has started to receive for D-30 122mm howitzers, have some similarities to Chinese 122mm shells.

It is not yet clear whether these shells are produced in Russia or whether China is providing them directly as part of its assistance.

China also possesses a large arsenal of towed artillery systems of Soviet-era calibers, which are essentially copies of Soviet-era systems such as the M-46, D-20, and D-30. All of them are visually nearly identical to the originals, making their supply to Russia potentially difficult to detect.