Zelenskiy accuses China of supplying Russia with weapons

By Anastasiia Malenko

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday China was supplying weapons and gunpowder to Russia, the first time he has openly accused Beijing of direct military assistance for Moscow.

The Ukrainian leader said at a press conference that his government also had intelligence that China was producing weapons on Russian territory and that he would be able to provide more details next week.

China, which has the world's second largest economy, has had close economic relations with Russia over the course of Moscow's three-year-old war in Ukraine. But it has sought to project an image of neutrality on the conflict.

For Kyiv, direct Chinese supplies of weaponry would mark a major departure from that position.

"We finally have information that China is supplying weapons to the Russian Federation," Zelenskiy said in Kyiv, referring specifically to "artillery", without saying if he meant shells, artillery systems or both.

"We believe that Chinese representatives are engaged in the production of some weapons on the territory of Russia," Zelenskiy said, without elaborating.

There was no immediate public comment from China and Reuters was not immediately able to seek comment from officials in China, given Zelenskiy's remarks were made during the late evening in Beijing.

China has previously denied any involvement in the war.

In comments last week about the war, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said: "I would like to reiterate that China is not the initiator of the Ukrainian crisis, nor is China a participating party. We are a firm supporter and active promoter of a peaceful settlement of the crisis."

Zelenskiy's allegation comes as President Donald Trump is pressing for peace, having upended previous U.S. policy by directly engaging with Russia and at one point cutting military aid to Ukraine.

Ties between China and Ukraine are already strained after Zelenskiy made public this month its capture of two Chinese nationals fighting for Russia.

He said last week that Ukraine had information about 155 Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian military against Kyiv's forces.

He said at that time that Russia was recruiting Chinese nationals via social media and that Beijing officials were aware of that. He added that Ukraine was trying to assess whether the recruits were receiving instructions from Beijing.

A week ago, China reaffirmed its support for peace efforts in Ukraine and said relevant parties should avoid "irresponsible remarks", in an apparent jab at Zelenskiy's comment about Chinese citizens fighting there for Russia.

Two U.S. officials familiar with American intelligence and a former Western intelligence official told Reuters last week they believed the Chinese citizens were mercenaries who did not appear to have a direct link to China's government.

China and Russia declared a "no limits" strategic partnership days before Russian President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko and Yuliia DysaWriting by Tom Balmforth and Max HunderEditing by Jane Merriman, Mark Heinrich and Frances Kerry)